Love to Hate You, Hate to Love You
by VIKEMON
Summary: HP/DM, post war, written before dumbledore died, sorry. Read & review. Harry and Draco are confused about their feelings towards each other, slowly their friendship starts to develop into something more.
1. Chapter 1: Back to School

**A/N:**_So the chapter title sounds like a Tesco advert around September, but oh well, does that really matter? I'm re-writing this because I like the plot but despise my old writing style. Hopefully this will make it better. Read and Review please, I do need feedback as of recent, I have not been on fan fiction to write in over a year. Thanks, Viki._

_P.S: Please take into consideration that I wrote this BEFORE the last book; so in this story Dumbledore is NOT dead. I'm sorry but I just cannot possibly change that in this story. Please don't start having a go at me about it because it's AU and all that. I can't help it. Thanks._

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The journey back to Hogwarts had always been a nightmare. Harry always felt sorry for the little first years, they must be so terrified of the hustle and bustle of platform nine and three quarters, it was the same every year, a trolley to the back of the leg here, someone walking backwards into you there, finding that you're cramped into a compartment with people you may have once met, that seem to know your name, but you cannot recall, and all of that hassle simply because there were no compartments left.

Harry, Ron and Hermione were making their way through the crowd easily; everybody moved out of the way so Harry and his friends could pass, well, they owed him that at the least, he'd saved all of them during the summer holidays. For once in his life Harry couldn't be modest, it was no piece of cake slaying a near immortal megalomaniac.

The trio got themselves safely seated on the Hogwarts express before they started to chatter about their seventh, and final, year at Hogwarts School of witchcraft and wizardry.

"I'm going to miss it" Harry stated absentmindedly, he was watching the parents on the platform, some crying as they waved goodbye '_Must be parents of the first years'_He thought, scanning the crowd for a second time.

"I'm sure if you so wished to, Dumbledore would let you stay to teach, you could teach defence against the dark arts, you're brilliant at it! And you've already had practice since Dumbledore's Army"

Harry smiled to himself, still gazing out of the window. Hermione often knew what to say to make Harry feel better; this was most definitely one of those times. Thoughts of what he could do when he left Hogwarts had been nagging him all summer, and yet there was the answer, plain as day, from one of his best friends. He turned to Hermione and grinned.

"I guess you're right, I'm pretty sure Dumbledore would appreciate a teacher that would stick around"

Harry relaxed into his seat, placed his forehead against the cool glass of the window and watched as Platform nine and three quarters flashed before his eyes in stages before he was finally on the way to Hogwarts. He thought about this year, he had to work hard, thanks to the so called Dark Lord; Harry's education had been somewhat disturbed. He was glad not to have the threat of possible death hanging over his head as he studied anymore.

Voices came from outside the carriage they were in, the three friend's heads turned to face the door as they listened intently, the voices grew louder, and they could now make out what was being said.

"Are you sure? Seriously, that could be really dangerous! No joke, I know it sounds stupid mate, but I'm not kidding." The teens looked at each other for confirmation of who it was standing outside, obviously having a somewhat private conversation, Harry stood up to see if it was anyone they liked. You couldn't tell the boys from the sound of their voices anymore, they were deep, gruff and completely different from the voices Harry recognised from the early years at Hogwarts, where most males in his year sounded like Disney characters come to life. Harry slid the door open and spoke to one of the people outside.

"Oh, it's just you _Malfoy_, what's up? No Voldie to tell you who to kill? Shame, we thought we'd got rid of you!" Hermione rolled her eyes, but Ron sniggered at the fact that Draco Malfoy could no longer hold the threat of his father or his dark master to them; Blaise Zabini didn't seem to find it funny.

"Shut your mouth, or at least find out facts before you go using it" The tall, dark haired Slytherin stepped up towards Harry, eyes narrowed dangerously.

"If you choose to speak so loudly and openly outside where I am sat about danger, I'm going to guess it's about Voldemort, after all, you were his slaves" was Harry's smug retort.

Blaise was about to say something but Draco stopped him, "Leave it, lets just go find a compartment," the blonde said quietly, his eyes avoiding Harry and co.

The two Slytherins walked off and had just gone into a carriage when the Golden trio's friends came to find them, Ginny beamed at Harry and sat next to Hermione whispering in her ear and giggling. The compartment became packed as along with Ginny was Neville, Luna, Seamus and Dean. The friends had little time to talk before the whole train was silenced by a deafening scream.

"What do you mean you want to break up? Drakey, we've been together for three years and we're not going to split up _now_!" Pansy Parkinson cried in distress.

"Anybody up for seeing the ferret get murdered?" Ron said excitedly. Everyone shook their heads and continued; no-one could be bothered with Malfoy now that the war was over. Harry stood up, clapped Ron on the back and followed him loyally along to where Malfoy was sat.

Harry had to giggle along with his friend as he saw the escapade before him, Draco Malfoy being held by his shirt collar against a wall by a desperate and furious Pansy Parkinson.

"She's possibly the scariest thing in Hogwarts, even next to fluffy the three headed dog" Ron muttered under his breath.

"She's every self-respecting Slytherin boy's nightmare" Harry whispered, wondering why Malfoy had suddenly decided he didn't want his play toy anymore.

Everyone went quiet as the white haired boy spoke.

"Well, Pansy, If I'm completely fair here, you are a money-grabbing pig-headed slob of a girl who refuses to do any work because you believe your looks will get you the cash you need even though you aren't much to look at, and your actually the biggest bitch I've ever had the unfortunate displeasure to meet." Draco finished talking to her as if it was a four year old before him and not a teenager.

Pansy sobbed and screeched again "You're so arrogant, just 'cos you're a _Malfoy_ you think you're so great, but you're not, I hope Potter makes you're life hell this year, you arsehole, that's completely unfair Draco, I'm the best looking thing you'll ever get, I hope you know that."

"Well then if you are I am pronouncing myself Asexual this very minute, and this has nothing to do with my social status although yes I do hold myself in higher regard than you." Draco pushed the crying girl off him. Harry had to be fair, if it was honesty anybody wanted they could rely on Draco Malfoy. He'd practically just proclaimed himself a God in his own eyes.

The girl narrowed her eyes to slits, stared at Draco for a while before storming out of the compartment to find comfort from the sweets trolley.

As the door opened a seventh year slytherin boy pulled Harry inside.

"You don't want to go talking to Draco like you did before Snotter, or you'll have a lot of trouble on you're back this year" The boy snarled, Harry had seen him a couple of times before at the Slytherin table, he was tall, well built and was bearing his gravestone teeth very close to Harry's face.

Harry just nodded, trying to turn his nose away from the awful breath ghosting over him.

"Selven, Just drop it alright, I'm fine, I can take petty insults from petty minded boys who wont move on in life" Draco had turned round to see Selven, the seventh year slytherin, holding Potter off the ground.

"Okay Draco, but if this guy gives you any more crap I'll beat the living daylights out of him." Michael Selven finished and gave Draco a wide smile. The blonde smiled back, before turning round to face Blaise. Harry could swear on his life that he saw Draco roll his eyes and Blaise tut in agreement to the exasperated manner Draco was taking.

Harry shuddered, feeling almost sorry for Draco that he had such a deranged fan. Selven turned back around.

The vicious boy grunted and dropped Harry to the floor, watching him closely as if daring him to say something about Malfoy.

Malfoy spoke next "Now get out of here Potter" His eyes were directed away from Harry, looking at the countryside that lay beautifully beyond the window.

"I said get out, what are you, a retard?" Malfoy said, turning round to look at Harry. It was meant quite bluntly but everyone took it as a joke and burst out laughing Harry just exited trying to hide his blush shamefully, how could he let something Draco Malfoy, his sworn Hogwarts rival, make him turn red? That was what Ron did in such situations; Harry knew he had to remain cool and fight fire with fire when it came to Malfoy, but with Selven as his personal bodyguard, there was little the raven haired boy could say or do to defend his case.

--

Harry was safely seated at the Gryffindor table when the Slytherins sauntered in, dishing out dagger-like glares to anyone who dared to look at them in the wrong way, Harry had to admit, there was a air of importance and power about them, it was something in their stride and the look they had on their faces, business like, void of any emotion. However, he would never admit to thinking this to any of his friends.

Malfoy sat himself down, the green-eyed saviour watched as Selven tried to take the seat next to him but was pushed to one side by Blaise who sat down and started talking to Draco. The seventh year pureblood boys situated themselves around their ice prince and glared around the great hall. Selven caught Harry's eye and pushed both his eyebrows upwards in a swift movement as he snarled. _'That's Draco's thing'_Harry thought, then realising what his inner voice had just said, his eyes widened. He had not just called the slytherin git by his first name…had he? He shook the thought out of his mind and scanned the slytherin table some more, Crabbe and Goyle were sat with a very unhappy Pansy, she was watching Draco like a hawk, tossing her hair, folding and unfolding her arms whilst sighing and puffing to try and get his attention somehow, but the blond just ignored these attempts and continued his conversation with Blaise whilst waiting for the start of year speech to begin.

The hall fell into silence as Dumbledore stood up beaming; he began to talk about how glad he was to see the smart seventh years, back safely in Hogwarts, to do their final year in peace. He held up a golden envelope to the students and his eyes twinkled mysteriously.

"It is now time to announce the head boy and head girl of this year. If your name is called please stand and come to the front to collect your badge and receive a round of applause" His eye's scanned the room, even as he got older, Harry noticed that Dumbledore forever possessed the eyes of a young man, they were electric blue, startling but warm. The headmaster opened the envelope carefully before pulling out a small piece of parchment; he beamed once more and paused for effect.

"This year's head girl is…"

Hermione bit her lip and squeezed her eyes shut; Harry smiled at Ron and shook his head. They both knew it would be her, all her life she had worked hard, did anything she could to stop her two friends breaking the rules, and now was definitely her moment to shine.

"Hermione Granger"

Hermione looked up and smiled from ear to ear, timidly she stood, cheers exploded from the Gryffindor table as she walked to the front, Professor McGonagall pinned the black and gold badge to her front and congratulated her before the eyes of students and teachers turned to Dumbledore once more, awaiting the next name to be called.

Harry was stumped; he looked at Ron, who merely shrugged. Who could head boy be? Harry looked around the hall, trying to spot someone worthy. He turned his attention back to the front to hear the name called.

"To some of you, this may come as a surprise, to others, it was foreseen, Hogwarts head boy this year shall be…"

Ron was playing with his robe sleeve, Harry nudged him and the red headed boy looked angrily at Dumbledore, anyone could tell when Ron needed food, he got so grumpy and impatient that you had to be extremely careful with anything you may say to set of his flaming temper alight.

"Draco Malfoy"

Harry's head snapped towards the front so fast his neck cracked, his jaw dropped as the blond boy got up, received a pat on the back off Blaise and walked confidently towards the front, cheered on by the rowdy Slytherin table, Snape stood and shook Draco's hand before handing him his badge. Draco smiled at his head of house and said something inaudible to anyone except Severus Snape.

Hermione and Draco nodded politely to each other and Draco congratulated her before extending his hand to shake hers. Hermione's eyes widened, in her third year at Hogwarts she had dished out one hell of a punch to Malfoy and had expected nothing but grief when his name was announced, she shook his hand and grinned, she seemed happy to be working with the boy this year. Hoping he'd changed she went to sit back down.

Draco was once again cheered as he sat down with his peers; he smiled at them as they reached to look at his badge. Harry watched Draco's smile, he had never seen the boy smile like that before, it was genuine looking, and the golden boy was intrigued. He studied the smile some more and found himself wishing he could receive a smile like that, not necessarily off the slytherin boy, off anyone really. _'He's a dentists dream'_Harry had wondered into a world of his own, blind and deaf to the sorting and the chatter among his friends. _'God his teeth are straight, they're perfect, I wonder how he got them like that'_

"I would like to announce that this year at Hogwarts two new lessons have been planned, it is the first time within 100 years that new changes have been made to the usual time table, the first to be introduced this year is Magical Business Study, the lesson will be run by the one and only set of Weasley twins, Fred and George, as I'm sure most of you will know them and be pleased they have returned" He held out his hand in a sweeping motion, bringing everybody's attention to the two stocky red-headed boys who were stood up waving at the crowd.

Fred and George took Dumbledore's place at the front and George began to speak.

"Well what can we say, we've made our fortune, we've made a hell of a lot of it, more than we expected if I'm honest, and now we would like to teach you how. We'd like to thank Hogwarts for giving us the aim and knowledge we needed to successfully push our dreams to reality, and of course Harry Potter for giving us the funding to do so" Fred and George simultaneously winked at Harry and Fred continued their speech.

"We're not going to ramble on at you, but the class is going to be ace, we hope you'll enjoy it!"

The students cheered and clapped as the twins sat, looking confident and happy.

"Why didn't they tell me this is what they had planned next!?" Ron whined, Harry and Hermione shrugged him off and continued to listen to Dumbledore.

"We also have the new lesson, Extreme Magic, this will be for seventh years only and a select few have been chosen to take it" the Seventh years started talking, some outraged the option was not open to all. Dumbledore coughed and once again regained control of the hall, "I have handed a copy of everybody's OWL results to Miss Granger, who will give them to you if you wish to possess it, your time table for this year will be with it also"

Dumbledore sat back down, so the students started talking once more, some discussing the Extreme Magic class, others chattering about the holidays.

Ron turned to Hermione "What did he get then?" He asked grinning.

"Who?" The girl asked lazily, as if she was bored and already knew what was coming.

"Malfoy" Ron said the world crinkling his nose.

"Oh, erm… lets see" She flicked through the papers and stopped when she found what she was looking for, her face paled and she looked up, "I need to study more"

Harry laughed but Ron looked puzzled.

"He got higher than you?" The red head asked in shock.

"Yes, He got an outstanding in everything, how could this be? It's not possible, no-one can study that much" Hermione gulped and her hand shot in the air, Professor McGonnagle stood up and walked over to her.

"What is the matter miss Granger?" She asked with a small smile.

"It says here that Malfoy got outstanding in everything but there's no such possibility is there? Even I didn't get that Miss. Is it an error?" Hermione was determined to prove she had the highest level in the school.

"Miss Granger, Malfoy is not only naturally intelligent, but his father has friends in high places where Magical tutors are concerned, he worked very hard last year with determination to get the best grades he could, there has been no mistake or error, Mister Malfoy had the best OWL results since Professor Dumbledore sat his own exams" She smiled proudly in the direction of Malfoy.

"But, But, How does he know so much, what's he taking this year?" Hermione asked frantically.

"If you look, you will see a copy of the list of lessons the students are taking clipped to the back of the sheets you are holding" McGonnagle answered before sweeping away to the head table.

"Oh my god" Hermione read out what Malfoy was taking in distress " Potions, Transformation, Defence against the dark arts, Charms, Magical Business Study, Divination, Care of magical creatures, Ancient Runes and extreme magic" She looked up at the two open-mouthed boys next to her.

"Divination!?" Ron looked appalled that anyone with more than two brain cells would want to take such an absurd lesson.

'_No wonder he's head boy, that's fantastic'_Harry thought to himself turning his attention once again to the slytherin table. '_What the hell why do I keep thinking nice things about him? This has to stop; he's pure evil, just look at him, the aristocratic git.'_ Harry wished he hadn't looked at the blond boy, his eyes were dazzling and his smile was breathtaking. The Gryffindor turned away and blushed deeply for the second time that day. _'That has to stop, why do I keep blushing? It must be because I'm tired; yes. That's it…tired.'_

Harry dug into the food that had appeared in front of him, laughing inwardly as he watched Ron shovel as much from his plate into his mouth as possible.

"Only five people are in extreme magic" Hermione's brow was furrowed as she looked at who was in the class, "Harry, you're in. So am I, Draco's in it, Ron, you're not in…" Hermione looked up and grimaced at the red head who merely shrugged.

"Who else?" Harry pressed.

"Blaise Zabini, that's Malfoy's friend isn't it? And Theodore Nott, he's in Slytherin too"

--

Two whole days had passed and Harry, thankfully, hadn't had any strange feelings of friendliness towards Malfoy.

The golden trio were sat in a long, boring Potions class; Hermione was the only one listening from the Gryffindor side of the room. Ron appeared to be asleep and Harry was ignoring Snape's constant droning.

"Potter!" The potions master hissed.

"Yes sir" Harry groaned, he really wasn't in the mood for Snape, he had recently been nervous, just in case Malfoy smiled that perfect, infectious gleaming smile of his.

"What did I just say," Snape asked in a patronizing tone, the master knew Harry had not been listening and leaped on the chance to deduct points from Gryffindor.

Harry made a guess, he was quite confident it was the right answer, but if it wasn't, he was going down with style and a snigger "Fifty points to Malfoy sir?"

"Incorrect Potter, move you're stuff and sit next to Draco," He turned to look at the front row Slytherin table, "Nott, if you would be so kind as to move up one space" the scrawny boy scurried up the bench to make room.

Harry sat down but Malfoy didn't look up at from his notes, Harry couldn't help but feel a little disappointed, he looked left. _'So that's Nott'_The small boy was frantically scribbling down notes from the board _'he must be clever, he seems eager to learn, not much muscle on him, couldn't bully a fly, wonder why he's in slytherin…'_

Harry half listened to Snape in case the hook nosed man decided to pick on him again, all the while keeping his eye on a certain blonde. He felt repulsed with himself as he looked at Draco and found himself thinking about how it would feel to be the best looking person in Hogwarts.

Malfoy finally looked up, and much to Harry's disappointment Draco looked straight through him. Harry went make to his notes to hide his disappointment, but when the Golden boy looked back all he saw was the sparkling smile, unfortunately not directed at him, but at Blaise on the table behind. Harry's heart skipped a fair few beats but he quickly regained control of his feelings and almost immediately began to think '_Stupid Malfoy, I wish I could kill him, what's he doing to me, what just happened, that was weird, my heart, it…leapt'_

Harry Potter spent the rest of his potions lesson staring full on ahead at the board, using all his will not to look at the boy next to him for fear of the strange feelings he was getting, it was starting to weird him out but at the same time, he felt so excited at these new emotions and effects. It was a strange condition Harry had, but whatever it was, it was growing, and soon, he'd have it bad…

--

**A/N:** I'm happy so far though, I think. Again, Please review! I'm dying to hear what you feel about this fic so far on whether I should continue or not! VIKEMON. Please tell me what you think, I need feedback people.


	2. Chapter 2: Forcing Back Denial

**Chapter Two; Forcing Back Denial**

**A/N**: _So I've updated again! Thank you so much for the reviews! I probably wouldn't have carried on with this without them! This chapters basically about Draco, how well he knows his magic and such like, I think a few people may like that, there's a fair lot of Draco fans out there! This also touches more on how much Harry's feelings towards Draco are changing, we're gradually getting towards his realisation! This is good because I want to be able to write some kissy stuff! Read and Review! (:_

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The next day at Breakfast Harry was a nervous wreck; he hadn't slept much due to his mind racing with thoughts, confusion and questions about what he was feeling, which his body just could not answer. He was starting to worry about himself, it seemed all he did was stare at Draco and think about Draco, wonder things about Draco, why was he so suddenly obsessed with Draco!?

Harry shuddered; he had a feeling Malfoy was going to find out about these thoughts and feelings, and Harry would never hear the end of it.

He looked over at the blonde boy. He was eating whilst reading the daily prophet, this was no big thing but Harry continued watching until his vision went blurred. He blinked and turned his attention to Ron, he needed to take his attention off the blond across the hall, he was convinced if he could just set his mind on the right track it would stay there and he could ignore the presence of the slytherin boy.

"What do you have first Ron?" Asked Harry, hoping not to sound patronising as his friend had not been chosen to attend the extreme magic classes.

"I have a free, decided to get that stupid potions essay out of the way, so I guess I'll be spending the next hour alone in the Library" Ron grunted in reply, obviously not too happy he'd been left out of the new lesson his friend's were in.

"Oh well, you'll get a head start with your homework, so you don't have to worry as much as me or Hermione"

"Guess so" muttered the red head, getting up and swinging his bag over his shoulder as he quickly exited the hall, ending his conversation with Harry to stop himself getting more angry or upset.

Harry continued to eat his breakfast as quickly as possible, he couldn't wait to find out what extreme magic was, he had a feeling he would definitely be working hard in it though.

As he was spooning warm porridge into his mouth someone sat themselves down gracefully next to Harry, he looked up to see who had occupied Ron's seat between himself and Hermione, and nearly gasped as he saw the back of a silver blond head in front of him. Draco Malfoy was sat facing Hermione on the bench, right next to Harry.

The raven haired teen stifled a groan of despair _'Why you? Anyone but you, I need to avoid you.'_

"Hello Draco, is there something I can help you with?" Hermione was smiling at the boy, she seemed happy someone like Draco was working with her.

"Not really, I just came to give you the password to your room, you get your own since your head girl"

"Oh I see, that's amazing, where is the room? McGonagall never mentioned this." Hermione was grinning with excitement.

"Well, it's up in the tower just next to where the owlry is, I'm sure you've seen the stairs while you've been up there, mines just across the way from yours, I'm going up after Extreme Magic just to see it so if you'd like to join me we can go have a look round up there together?" Draco was being so polite Harry's jaw nearly hit the table.

'_What is up with him this year? Why is he being nice to Hermione? And why is Hermione being nice to him? Has she forgotten the name calling? How often he called her Mudblood so spitefully?' _Harry was surprised he had not wanted to hit Draco remembering this, all he wanted was to find out WHY, Why had Draco been so cruel?

"Sure, in fact, would you mind if I walked up to Extreme Magic with you, Blaise and Theodore? I've never been in that room before and I wouldn't want to be late for my first lesson"

"Of course, I think I know where it is, do you know whose teaching? Or as a matter of fact, what they are teaching? I've not been told what this course entails, and there are no records of it in any books I have."

"I've not a clue either, I guess we'll just have to wait and see. Are you coming Harry?" Hermione questioned.

Harry swallowed and tried to remain calm, he had no idea what he was going through but he had to control it, if he could kill Voldemort, he could handle being around the slytherin ice prince. "Yeah, sure, I'm coming"

Blaise and Theodore had walked over and were stood waiting for Draco, they had the same facial expression. It was blank, almost dead. It was unnerving. The emerald eyed boy wondered if this was a trick all Slytherin boys were taught on arrival. If they had to possess the skill of hiding thoughts and emotions. _'I really need to learn how to do that, then no-one will ever know about these weird feelings'_

"Potter and Hermione are walking up with us, are you both ready for class now?" Draco stood up from the bench, picking up his bag and stepping toward his two friends. Girls surrounding the area where Draco was standing giggled and whispered.

"Yeah we're ready, no idea what for though, I don't even understand the point in this lesson" Blaise raised a sceptical eyebrow, Harry noticed Hermione watching him, not listening to what he was saying, just studying his features. He smiled a little, he had never seen how Hermione acted when she was around someone she liked but did not know.

Blaise was tall, dark haired and handsome. His chiselled features and darkened eyes made him look somewhat mysterious, he had a manic beauty about him, especially when he smiled to reveal a wolfish gleam of white teeth, clashing against his tanned skin. Like most slytherins Blaise Zabini did not smile much, it was a shame, seeing as much like his friend, Draco, he had a breathtaking grin.

"Me neither but we'll surely find out soon, let's just go" Draco gestured for Hermione to leave with them, she grabbed her bag and followed the three boys out of the hall, closely followed by Harry.

--

"Isn't it weird how this year you two have gotten on? Like, sort of become friends?" Blaise chattered as he walked down the corridor, looking from Draco to Hermione.

"Hmm" Draco's pale face did not move to face Blaise, his eyes remained fixed forward. Void of any signs of life or emotion behind them. Harry could tell he wasn't listening properly.

"It is rather strange, I was thinking that myself Blaise, I never really knew how intelligent Draco was until this year, I'm sort of starting to regret our houses ever being at each others throats." Hermione's brow furrowed as she remembered some of the things that had been said to her in the years gone by at Hogwarts, and some things she was forced to say back.

A smile played on Draco's lips as Hermione praised his intellect, he knew he was clever, after being forced to study all summer with a tutor he was bound to be. But it was nice to hear it from someone who at one point regarded him as the scum of the earth and would rather him be dead than walking the corridors of the school.

They arrived at their classroom, Harry was glad of this fact as he had not spoke one word to anyone, he noticed Nott hadn't either but he felt stupid walking along with three slytherins who had fired so many insults at him in the past he'd have to have over fifty sets of hands to count them all. He pushed the heavy oak door open and was nearly thrown into the air by Hermione rushing past him. A familiar figure was sat on the desk waiting for the five students.

"Tonks!" The girl cried, running over to their teacher and hugging her tightly. Tonks grinned and motioned for Hermione and Harry to sit down at the long table stretched out in front of her.

"Take a seat you two, I'll talk with you both after class," She said beaming.

Hermione sat at the end of the table, Harry placed himself next to her and started to unpack his parchment, ink and quills. Malfoy sat himself down in the middle of the table, while Blaise and Theodore positioned 

themselves to his right. Harry was sat directly next to the person he desperately needed to avoid at all costs. _'Oh no, why? Why couldn't he have sat the other end, why's he sat here, he's so bloody distracting'_

Draco was staring intently at Tonks, waiting for his lesson to begin. He had a thirst for more knowledge than he already had, he loved to learn new spells, enchantments or potions. He strived to be the best at everything, and much to the Head Girl's annoyance he succeeded with it every time. He remembered the first time he had vowed to be the very best student Hogwarts had ever seen, when his father had been so furious that Hermione Granger had beat his son in all lessons. A 'mudblood' capable of out-doing a Malfoy, the sheer rage from his father had caused Draco to go into overload. He now studied harder than anyone, and it paid off.

"Okay, so I guess you all want to know what you're doing here this year, well Extreme Magic is classed as raw magic, not filtered from a wand, in other words its wandless magic, Hogwarts chose to take on this study because of the OWL results, Malfoy clearly getting the highest results throughout all schools, and the rest of you not far behind that. Congratulations to you all." Tonks grinned at the five students before continuing "Firstly are there any questions you have? Anybody need to know anything about this?"

Draco raised his hand and waited to be acknowledged. Harry couldn't help but envy him for being so perfect in every way, from his porcelain skin to his slender hands with manicured pearl nails. His toned body and silky soft hair that seemed to glow in the sunlight. The strange feelings rose again from inside Harry, but this time they were tenfold. His heart raced and his face reddened.

What if Draco some how knew what he was feeling right now? He could never possible live it down if he found out Draco knew what he was thinking. If the blond knew how perfect Harry thought he was. Harry knew he was silly for thinking this, fearing it so much, but he couldn't push away the foreboding sense of embarrassment and shyness he felt around Draco Malfoy.

"What are we actually going to be doing today?" A cold voice pulled Harry back to reality.

Tonks had asked Draco what he wanted to know while Harry had been drowning in his thoughts and hanging his head to hide his shameful rouge cheeks.

"Well, Malfoy, I'm pretty sure with all that private tutoring, you already know how to do a few things without the help of your wand. Why don't you tell us what the first thing you learnt was?"

"I only know how to do small things, but the first thing I learnt to do was channel the magic from my mind and my surroundings into words or chants and focused on moving it through my hands" Draco shrugged, not knowing if what he'd said had been right or wrong, it was apparent he didn't really mind if it was one or the other.

'_He's so indifferent and cool about everything, how does he do it?' _ Harry looked at Draco from the corner of his eye, making sure the blond boy didn't notice he was being watched.

Hermione, however, stared shamelessly in awe at Malfoy "That's how he got outstanding stars" She whispered to Harry.

"I probably couldn't have put that better myself Draco, well done" Tonk's smiled politely before turning to the board and scribbling four words out with chalk, she did not agree with using her magic to do such minor tasks, it was a waste of a gift in her eyes.

In bold white letters were 'Earth, Wind, Water, Fire.'

"Elements. These are where all magic starts from. They are basically nature when combined. The magical world, today known as the Wizarding World due to evolution, used to be inhabited by only four beings, the Elementals. One or two of you may have elemental blood as there are some direct lines from these beings about today, anyone?"

Almost everyone shook their heads, but once again Draco raised his hand and spoke.

"Both my Mother and Father had elemental blood so I inherited that" he said coolly.

"Great. And which type are they. If you know?"

"My father was Air, or Wind as you call it, and my Mother was water. My father got his from his Fathers Granddad's Uncle's Father and My Mother inherited hers from her Mother's Great-Great-Great Grandmother"

"Fantastic, do you know anymore about that then, Draco? Have you learnt anything from either of them if they were taught by their parents or grandparents?" Tonks seemed so interested in this, she was grinning and staring at Draco awaiting his reply.

"Well I learnt a couple of things when I turned sixteen, I haven't practiced them in a while but I can try and do them now if you like, do you have an empty goblet?" The blond asked, standing up where he was.

Tonks placed and empty crystal goblet in front of Draco on his desk, he closed his eyes and breathed, he bit his bottom lip in concentration and for the umpteenth time this year Harry was entranced by the boys beauty, he could do nothing but will himself to stop looking at the soft pale pink lips, the bottom one ever so slightly fuller than the top.

For a few moments nothing happened, Draco's eyes opened, everyone in the room watched him concentrate harder, until movement came from the goblet. Slowly but surely water was rising up from the bottom. Hermione gasped and watched in rapture as the glass filled more, until it was half full.

'_That's amazing, he's amazing.' _Harry thought as Draco closed his eyes again and raised his hands above the goblet, weaving them in a pattern mid-air.

"Watch how he moves his hands, things like that are important in wand less magic. The key things to remember are concentration, a blank mind, gestures and the right words"

The water rose out of the glass in a thin line, Draco moves his hands in front of the stream flowing just ahead of his face. His hands were moving so gracefully, almost touching the clear blue liquid. It began to flow and move where his hands went, by the time he had finished the water was flowing into the words 'Draco Lucius Malfoy' about a foot above the desk.

"Wow, Draco…" Blaise started, "You are…such a SHOWOFF"

Malfoy moved his water above his friend's head and sent it splashing down like a miniature waterfall over the boy's hair. A splutter came from Blaise's mouth as he tried to come to terms with what had just happened, upon seeing this confusion, Draco let a laugh escape from his lungs, he tossed his hair back from his eyes, revealing their sparkle as he laughed more and more.

Blaise produced his wand from his robes and did a quick drying spell on his hair before staring grumpily at Draco.

"Well, that was amazing Draco, I'm sure you'll find this class interesting and rather simple if you already know the concept of this sort of magic" Tonks shook her head and giggled, whilst removing the once again empty goblet from the desk and placing back on a shelf behind her. "Anything else you can do?"

"Yeah, there's one thing," Draco walked round the front of the desk and came to stand right in front of Harry. "This is air power" He gazed into emerald eyes with his own emotionless winter stare, he placed his hand between him and Harry and concentrated, after a minute or so Harry felt an ice cold breeze wash over his features, his hair started to move in the wind that was directed from the beautiful boy stood ahead. It felt good, so awakening and refreshing, Harry didn't want it to stop. It gave him the nostalgic image of many snowy winters at Hogwarts.

In the pit of Harry's stomach something roused, twisting and turning. Making him feel as if he wanted to run away and stop the connective gaze which his and Draco's eyes were holding on to, his heart beat was faster than it ever had been, faster than Harry had thought possible. He was about to break off the connection when to his disappointment, Draco did it for him.

"Sorry for picking on you without warning" Draco said in a flat, monotone voice, before he walked back to his seat.

"Well there we have it, wandless magic, is everyone impressed? Is everyone raring to go?" Tonks was grinning with excitement. She was thrilled to be back at Hogwarts, especially only have three lessons a week, and that was only with this class, she had all the time in the world to wander round the dark corners her and past friends and past partners had found together, to visit the shrieking shack to see what fate it had had since she passed her NEWTs, and also to go shopping in Hogsmead and see if any old shop keepers would remember her.

"Now, that was a different kind from what you will be doing in this class; Draco here was channelling natural forces, Elemental Magic, what we will be doing is casting your normal spells like 'Accio' or 'Lumos' but from 

your hands not your wands. We won't be able to channel elements as it is not possible unless you are related by blood to an Elemental Ancestor. We will learn more about Elementals in non-practical lessons or I may set research as homework. I hope we're all looking forward to learning how to cast spells using our minds though, it can be very handy in some situations."

Harry was most definitely looking forward to learning how to do things like Draco had done. He was also looking forward to sitting next to the Slytherin Prince, what he had felt when Draco was in front of him was new, it was daring and exciting. It was something Harry was sure he had felt before, that same kick of thrill mixed with harsh fear, except this time round he felt it stronger, coursing through his whole body. He didn't want to ignore these feelings, it would be his secret, no-one would ever know about what he was experiencing. Where was the harm in that?

--

**A/N: **_(: Did I do good? I hope I did, I'm pretty much loving giving Draco this much power! It's fun to write. Please tell me what you think in a review. _

_P.S: Thank you so much again to those who reviewed Chapter One, It means a lot to me!_

_VIKEMON._


	3. Chapter 3: Dropping Formalities

**Chapter Three; Dropping Formalities**

**A/N: **_Thank you SO much to all of you who reviewed! This chapters about Harry and Draco getting closer to each other Wolf Whistles and also another pair getting closer ; hehe, you can probably guess who. Anyway, read and review people, (: _

--

When they had all taken notes, dictated by Tonk's, and written down their homework for that evening; Harry packed away his things and looked at Hermione.

"Are you going to look at your new room then?" He asked, hoping she'd invite him.

"Yes, I can't wait! Wonder what's in there, this is so exciting, being head girl and all!" Hermione was grinning, she looked like she was about to burst with happiness. "Why don't you come too so we can head on down to meet Ron outside charms afterwards?" She smiled at Harry, she wanted him to be there with her. She wanted someone who she could share her joy with. She'd been waiting for her day for six years, the day when she would be Hogwart's Head girl.

"Yeah, sure, why not. So are we following Malfoy?" Harry was trying to keep a straight face, but it was so funny, pretending to hate the boy when really every time he saw Malfoy, he had a sudden adrenaline rush that made him want to jump up and down as fast as he could, just to burn energy.

"Yes I think we will be following _Draco" _She stressed her final word, she felt no need to use cold formalities with the Head Boy and she wanted both Harry and Ron to feel the same way. It was no use trying to talk the read head round, but Harry of course was fine with using first name terms and getting away with it. It added even more fun to the game he was playing in his mind.

"Hermione, are you ready to go find your room?" Draco had walked over to the girl after bidding goodbye to his two companions and was waiting patiently in front of her part of the desk.

"Yes I'm coming now, Harry's coming with us to see my room" She smiled at Harry and picked up her bag.

"Ah, I see. Well then we'd best get going or we'll all be late to class" Draco turned and opened the door, surprisingly he waited until both Harry and Hermione had walked through before letting it shut behind him.

"So where is it we're going again?" Hermione questioned as they walked down the corridor, they received odd looks from the lower year students who had been around to witness many slanging matches between Harry and Draco.

"It's just past the owlry, I'm sure you'll know where I mean as we walk up to it"

Harry noticed how formally Draco spoke with every sentence, he wondered if he spoke to Blaise like that, or any of his other friends, did he used to speak to Pansy in that manner? Every word that came from Draco's lips was crisp, cool and without empathy or emotion.

They walked up the cold grey steps towards the owlry, although the surroundings in this part of the castle held little warmth within the walls, Harry felt somewhat at home here. Many nights when his sleep was haunted by images of torture, death and hatred, Harry had come here to study the night's sky, and to seek instant comfort from Hedwig's feathery softness.

The owl Hagrid had bought him on Harry's first trip to Diagon Alley had proved a true and noble ally to Harry Potter. She listened, never replying, just listened. When Harry was talking to her about such things like prophecies, secret organizations and dark marks; Hedwig would tilt her head to one side and look at him widely through glassy amber eyes. He would stroke her wings and sigh, she reminded him so much of just how amazing the Wizarding world was, even at times when he wished with all his will he were muggle, just normal Harry James Potter living a normal suburban life.

Draco led them past the opening to the owlry and turned left.

"It's just up here" He stated pointing towards a narrow set of stairs just ahead of them. Harry watched as Draco's shimmering blond hair fell into his eyes and graced his pale features beautifully. The feeling he'd fretted about those first two nights at Hogwarts resurfaced, bubbling inside him until his body succumbed and his knees became weak.

He regained his composition and walked up the stairs after Draco and Hermione. A sudden wave of jealousy hit him full on, Hermione would be able to see Draco any time she wanted. She would have countless hours alone with him. Using the excuse of Head Girl and Boy business, she could sit with him all night.

'_She'd rather spend time alone with Blaise than Draco.' _Harry thought to himself, ridding his heart of the jealousy that had come from nowhere.

He heard a gasp from above him and realised he'd stopped halfway up the stairs to think about Draco. He quickly made up the distance between himself and his best friend by lunging up the steps taking them three at a time. He peered over Draco's shoulder to see the room Hermione had just entered.

"Oh, sorry Pot…Harry" Draco moved himself out of the way so Harry could get through the doorway; he just stayed there looking in from the outside.

"Thanks…erm, Draco" Harry tried to smile but his throat felt as if it had a snitch stuck in it, he became aware his smile must somehow resemble a bullfrog's because of this feeling, so he turned his head away from Draco before he blushed tomato soup red.

"You can come in too you know Draco, I don't mind" They heard the Head Girl call from a room on their left.

The blond haired boy stepped through the doorway and took a good look around the room. The furnishings were soft, and had inviting warmth about them considering they were in a stone tower. By the fireside were two cherry red armchairs, the cushions were plump, stuffed with what Harry presumed would be feathers, like in the common room. On one of the chairs was a box of chocolates from Honeydukes, a congratulation gift from Dumbledore.

Draco had walked over to the bookcase and was examining it with interest; it was a few minutes before he spoke.

"I think these may be enchanted to fit the owners interests" He said turning to face Hermione who was stood in the middle of her room beaming, she walked over to him and took a look at the books herself.

"I think you may be right," She breathed "These are all my favourites and some I haven't read yet but want to read"

Harry stepped over to where they were both stood and looked at the shiny new volumes that were neatly packed on the shelves, they all did seem like they would take Hermione's interest. _A History of Magic Volume I-X, Wizards in the Stone Ages, Magic Wars throughout the World, the Governmental Disputes of the Wizarding Community, Biography of a House Elf-1912._

Draco had turned to face him; he had a book in his hand that he had picked out from the top shelf, _Enchantments and Charms for Protection._

"Have you ever read this, Harry?" He looked directly at the Gryffindor boys face as he spoke, the piercing blue of his eyes clashing with soft, rich emerald.

'_Please, don't make me blush now, not while you're looking at me like that, you'll see it and my game will be over.'_

"No I can't say I have. Why did you ask?" Harry acted cool and casual but his heart was banging against the inside of his rib cage, almost as if it was trying to get out of his chest. 

"It has a whole chapter on Patronuses; I heard that's your specialty? Well, it tells you how your animal is determined and also how to conjure it wandlessly and without words." Draco had obviously read the book, more than once too; he was handling it with respect and care. Perhaps he shared the same love of books as Hermione.

"Oh…right," Harry was so nervous about speaking to Draco that he nearly stuttered "Do you mind if I borrow this then Hermione?" He the book from Draco's hold, his finger tips brushed lightly against the blond boy's hand. He felt a flame rise in his stomach and send heat to his face, he made sure to drop his head downwards and stare at the cover of the book so Draco did not see his blush.

"Of course you can Harry" Hermione did not look up from the blurb she was reading intently.

"I'm going to leave you two to it and head to Ancient Ruins if you don't mind me doing so" Draco did not wait for either of them to reply before turning and leaving the room, closing the door gently behind him.

--

Charms dragged, Harry sat through most of it with his chin resting on his hand, looking out of the window onto the lake. The lake was so serene and beautiful when winter was approaching; it turned midnight blue and black waves lapped over one another. If there wasn't a fear of imminent death-via-squid Harry would have considered going for a swim. Thoughts of Draco tortured his mind; the boy was just impossible to ignore, so perfect and precise in every way, how could anyone not stare in awe at his flawless form? Or not want to listen to his soft yet sharp cool voice regurgitating the intellect from his mind? Draco Malfoy was interesting. That was the end of it, anyone who had listened to him for at least five minutes wanted to spend more time with him. He not only had an amazing knowledge, but he was beauty defined, making him more appealing than most people thought possible. It was hard to see Draco's flaws.

When the lesson was finally over, Harry headed to lunch with his two best friends. They heard foot steps behind them and looked round; Draco had walked briskly to catch up with Hermione.

"Bugger off Malfoy" Ron spat, causing the slytherin boy to raise one eyebrow in his direction before turning to Hermione.

"Blaise, Theo and I were just wondering if you would want to come to my room tonight, we're doing our research for Extreme Magic there, I've found the perfect book that explains almost everything we need to know to complete our essays" Draco waited for a reply, Theodore came up behind him and faced Harry.

"Why don't you come too Harry, we could all do it together, we'd get it over and done with much faster" Draco nodded at Theo in agreement, the small mousy boy had spoken so shyly Harry had strained to hear him.

"Uhm, Sure, I guess we would get it done faster, if you don't mind me coming along too…Draco" He still had not got used to calling the boy by his first name.

"Why would I mind?" The tall, blond boy questioned this further with another raised eyebrow but turned back to Hermione.

"You make it sound almost like fun, Draco" She smiled and laughed a little, she got a small amused smile in return but no reply. "Shall we come up after dinner?"

"Sure, that sounds fine by me, I'll tell Blaise to come then too" Draco walked ahead of them followed buy Theodore.

It took about five seconds for Ron Weasley to explode.

"What the _fucking hell _was that all about?" He was fuming; his face had turned a violent shade of red with anger "Don't _tell_ me you're both suddenly sucking up to that creep just because he's in your fancy magic lesson."

"Ronald, don't be so sil…"

Hermione didn't have time to finish her sentence as the boy stormed off through the double doors leading to the hall; Harry shrugged and patted a shocked Hermione on the back.

"He'll calm down when he's had food, don't worry, at least this means we can get that homework out of the way, I'm pretty sure we'll get a massive essay next potions lesson, aren't you? Snape can't resist for long." The two friends sighed and walked into lunch, not daring to say a word in case Ron chose to make a fool of him self again.

All through lunch Harry and Hermione were both staring over at the Slytherin table, it would have been a comical sight for anyone who watched them let their gazes linger on two Slytherin boys sat by side.

Anyone at Hogwarts had to admit Draco Malfoy and Blaise Zabini were undoubtedly the best looking boys in school. Wherever they went together, Girls would giggle from behind stone pillars, or even whisper about them with their friends as they walked past. What Harry had thought at the start of the year was true about Slytherins, they power and ability they showed as they strutted down the corridor was amazing, they emitted a sense of mystery and darkened importance. The boys were so different; Draco with his blond hair, almost 

white was slender, pale and beautiful. Blaise was tanned a light brown, his fluffy dark hair stuck out playfully and his chocolate eyes gleamed with a hint of mischief and humour, he was stunning.

Hermione was not able to keep herself from staring longingly at Zabini. His barking laugh and deep rugged voice was all she could hear as she sat picking at salad and occasionally sipped her pumpkin juice. He had her undivided attention as she sat keenly watching him talk to Draco, joking and getting the odd laugh from the stern and serious boy. Hermione Granger could usually hide her feelings behind indifference, this time she could do not such thing. The boy across the hall had taken over her mind. He made her heart summersault every time he spoke to her and looked at her with those child-like-puppy-dog-eyes.

--

Hermione's daydreams were soon diminished as she realised what Harry had predicted was true. As soon as they walked into the Potions Lab, the word 'essay' rang in the student's ears like a doomsday bell. A few slytherins dared to groan, knowing their master would not take points off them for insolence. Harry looked over at Draco, he was nodding and smiling softly at something Blaise was whispering in his ear.

"Zabini!" Snape snapped "Care to share what you find so urgently pressing that you have to tell Mister Malfoy right this instant?"

Draco was evidently trying his best to keep a straight face, but in the end he had to look down at his desk and Harry saw him silently laughing, biting his lip while his cheeks were turning a pale rose pink from effort of keeping it all in.

Blaise shook his head at his teacher, wide-eyed and fearful as the cloaked potions master looked down at him.

"Well then do not continue to talk during my lesson" The drawl cut through Harry, is was so infuriating the way Snape dragged out every word as if speaking in slow motion. He had taken a liking to Blaise Zabini; he was funny and obviously made Hermione very happy when he was around her. Harry turned to her to see if she was watching, she was. She was staring so blatantly Harry could have roared with laughter; her eyes were glazed over, focusing on the Slytherin boy and nothing else.

"Hermione…" Harry whispered to the girl sat next to him.

"Hmm"

"You're staring at him, and it's obvious"

The girl's eyes widened and she turned to stare at Harry, her mouth opened with shock. "What? Who? I wasn't staring at anyone, what made you think that?" She was talking so fast it was hard to make out what she had said. Harry merely laughed before replying.

"What made me think that, was the fact you were staring right at Blaise Zabini for a good few minutes there" Harry laughed again as a rouge blush spread across Hermione's cheeks.

The two friends were still be ignored by Ron, he had not spoke a word to them since his rant. He had even left lunch early to avoid walking with them. It was a good job he was still not talking as had he seen Hermione looking at Blaise the way she had, he may have spontaneously combust.

--

Harry and Hermione were laughing as they sat down at dinner, discussing how Malfoy and Zabini had gotten in trouble three times throughout Snape's lesson and landed themselves in detention with Hagrid. Harry remembered how scared Draco had been on their trip in to the depths of the forbidden forest in year one, that detention had been so much fun. Pang. There it was, he remembered it, the same bubbling feeling, he'd felt it that night as he'd watched Malfoy walk ahead of him with a lantern. Harry smiled to himself.

"I cannot believe Draco has detention, He's such a good student" Hermione choked back a laugh as she said this.

"Well, I have to admit, it wasn't his fault. It was pretty much all Blaise's fault"

Whilst the students were making the Transformation Potion they were due to write an essay on, Blaise had slapped Draco across the face with Gillyweed several times, then placed said wet herb into Draco's hair, then 

had flicked their half-made potion in the boys face. Causing the Ice prince to somehow end up stood with Blaise in a head lock, pouring a vial of freezing rat urine down the struggling boy's neck.

"Oh my, it _was_ dreadfully funny" Hermione wiped her watery eyes and dished up a plate of steak pie for herself.

Harry dished up his own dinner before glancing over to the Slytherins. Draco and Blaise were practically lying on the floor laughing, both finding it difficult to breathe through their giggles as they told their friends what had happened in potions. The raven haired boy was looking forward to his study night, he finally had an excuse to talk to Draco properly and get to know him, he was sure if he just got closer to the boy all his feelings would suddenly be explained. He started to rush his food so he could have pudding before heading up to the Head Boys quarters.

Hermione and Harry were still eating hot chocolate fudge cake with cream when Draco, Blaise and Theodore walked over to where they were sat.

"Hey, we're just going to go up now, so we'll see you two in a bit?" Draco said looking from Hermione to Harry, he gave the Gryffindor boy a heart-stopping smile before Hermione answered.

"Yeah I think we're nearly finished here so I guess we'll see you in a bit"

"Great" the three boys walked out of the hall and left Hermione sat looking at the space where Blaise was just stood, Harry nudged her.

"Quit it Hermione people will think you've gone mad" Harry laughed as she turned round, blushing deeply for the second time that day.

Harry enjoyed every mouthful of his pudding, safely knowing that when he walked through that oak door into Draco's room the quivering, exciting, adrenaline-fuelled feeling would return and rouse his senses to make him feel as though he were flying, or falling. Both in a good way though, the stomach twists felt amazing when Draco looked at him. And the way his heart beat as though he had been running flat out for four hours felt amazing too.

"Right, we're going to do our homework with the Slytherins now Ron, we'll see you later on perhaps."

Ron grunted at Hermione's words. "Whatever. You two have _fun _at your stupid extreme magic club"

"Don't be like that Ron," Harry started, but the boy just turned away from him and carried on eating.

"Just leave him to it, lets go" Hermione whispered to Harry with a small understanding smile.

The two friends chatted as they slowly made their way to the quiet tower, Harry questioned Hermione about how long she'd liked Blaise for and whether or not she'd try to do anything about her feelings.

"Well I'm hardly going to confess my undying love for him in the owlry, am I?" She laughed lightly " I've only just started liking him this year, I've never really noticed him before. Probably because Draco used to walk round with Crabbe and Goyle instead of him, I wonder what happened to them two…"

"I take it they chose Pansy's side when 'Mummy and Daddy' went their separate ways" Harry laughed heartily at what he'd just said, but he was glad pansy was out of the way, she would only dampen Harry's feelings. It just wouldn't be the same if every time the raven haired boy looked at Draco, he saw pug-faced-pansy draped all over him.

Hermione laughed at this too "I guess you must be right Harry, now I don't know Draco's password so we'll have to knock" she gestured to the heavy door in front of them as they climbed the last few stairs.

Harry stretched his arm out to the oak door and it seemed to be in slow motion that his knuckles rapped against the old wood, they both stood back and waited for Draco to answer. When he finally did, Harry Potter nearly fainted.

--

**A/N: **_THERE'S YOUR UPDATE! It took me so long to write this chapter as I started from scratch, I used nothing from the original third chapter I wrote two years ago! What do you all think? I need reviews! Feedback people, feedback! Who loves the suspense? :D VIKEMON _


	4. Chapter 4: Game Player No2

**Chapter 4; Game Player No. 2**

**A/N: **_Wow, thank you all so much for the reviews :') they've made me very happy! I seem to be updating every night now, this story is like my baby! Well, this chapter rules out the tension of the cliff-hanger phew and tells us all how slytherins act when they're relaxed :D I've stopped using the outlines from the old version of this story I wrote 2 years ago now because from chapter 3 onwards, the material is utter poo! _

--

Somewhere behind Harry's naval a barrier shattered into millions of pieces, he felt the need to hold his stomach until it had decided to stop doing back flips and star jumps all about the place. Draco was stood with his hair falling softly all around his pale face, now out of his Slytherin robes. He was wearing fitted black jeans and a grey and black striped jumper made of soft thin wool. Harry gawped. His breath had caught in his throat and he felt as if he was floating lightly off the ground.

The feeling was getting so much stronger now, forcing Harry's whole body to react when Draco Malfoy was around. Again came the questions in the raven haired boy's mind, questions about how these feelings had risen, had they been there all along, and what did it mean. He had contemplated asking Hermione on his way up to the head boy's room, but to get an answer he would have to tell her whom his feelings were directed at. And that was something he simply could not do. This was a one player game.

Harry looked Draco up and down, from his soft grey eyes, the exact colour of rain clouds when under the tower lighting, to his bare feet with elegant slender toes to match his perfect fingers. Harry Potter did not realise how much he was staring at the boy right now, nor did he realise that Hermione had already walked into Draco's room and was saying hello to Theodore and Blaise. Lucky for Harry his gaze was still fixed on Draco's feet. This only had the effect of making him look like a shy child.

"Harry? Are you coming in?" Draco asked quietly, gesturing to the room.

"Oh, yeah…err, sorry. I was miles away" He replied, when really he was right there, stuck in that moment, simply watching Draco. If he was true to himself Harry would admit that he could sit and stare at the blond boy all night long, there was so much to be said between them, too many apologies. But also so many praises, they had grown together, reaching the highest levels of their strength. There was one question that had burned into Harry when he had first seen Draco on the train. '_How did he escape death or imprisonment? The wars over now, how is he still here?' _Harry pondered as he stepped through the door into Draco's quarters.

Malfoy had definitely go the better end of the deal where the rooms where concerned. His bed sheets were a luxurious deep turquoise silk, almost black, with embroidered silver patterns at the bottom end, his whole room was tied in with this colour scheme. Handsome black wood furniture stood around, with the same silver detail. Hermione was also staring round in awe.

"Hey Harry" Blaise called from a circular table just in front of the window, it looked as though it would only just fit the five of them on it.

"Hi Blaise" Harry smiled at the boy before sitting down at the table next to him. He sneaked a quick wink in Hermione's direction, now that all was revealed about her feelings towards the Slytherin boy, Harry would tease her at will.

Draco sat down on Harry's other side and placed a book in the middle of the table. It was an old leather-bound volume about Elemental powers and how they had evolved, just what they needed to do their essay.

"Now, this is what I've found, perhaps the bookcase knew what I needed, or maybe it was pot-luck" Draco smiled at the four people surrounding him "But I'm pretty confident if we just pick out the information we need from this we'll be done within the hour"

Draco was completely right about this, he dictated points to write down on spare parchment from all sixty seven chapters of the book and when he was finished all the five extreme magic students had to do was to link the information together with sentences.

"I don't even know how to start off…" Blaise grinned across the table at his friend and raised his eyebrows high in an expectant manner. "_Draaay_?"

'_Dray?' _ Harry thought, _'That suits him so much, it's perfect, wonder how long it'll be before I call him that.'_

Draco shook his head "Do it yourself Blaise, its simple really, Just write down what you've found out from this book"

"Your so not fair" Blaise muttered childishly downwards, as he tried to think of his starting line.

It took them less than an hour to complete their essays, even Blaise. When they were finished they sat back in their seats and relaxed.

"I'm glad I got that out of the way, leaves me time to do my Potions tomorrow" Draco stretched and looked round at his companions.

"Hmm, Me too," Theo agreed "I can't believe what you two did in lesson today" He started to laugh as he said it.

"Jesus that was so awesome" Blaise stated, laughing loudly, his eyes lit up and he squirmed as he struggled to control himself.

"It was not Blaise. I have a reputation to uphold, you don't. It's okay for you to get detentions" Draco sighed, but smiled as they recalled what had gone on in potions.

"Well I didn't tell you to pour rat piss down my back now _did I_?" Blaise narrowed his eyes at Draco but laughed again.

"You pretty much asked for it, you fool"

Theo snorted – "you both deserved what you got, messing around like that, this is our final year, it counts for so much"

Blaise looked dumbfound at Theodore.

"You…You…_Spoke" _He said, feigning shock.

"He speaks all the time, you just don't hear him because you never shut up" Draco said stretching in his chair again.

Harry and Hermione watched the friends banter with smiles on their faces. It was weird to see how casually they interacted, no cool voices, no expressionless faces. Slytherins were just like any other house. They chatted, joked, argued; yet it was so hard to figure out why they chose not to show this side around Hogwarts, this way they looked approachable and friendly, instead of cruel hearted and callous.

--

"Anybody want a drink?" Draco asked as the group moved to the comfy seats by the fire, Harry sat crossed legged on the floor with his back to the flames.

Everybody grunted that they did, Draco waved his hand and a tray of goblets appeared, full of pumpkin juice.

"Couldn't you have made mine a butterbeer?" Blaise whined playfully. Hermione looked at him fondly; she studied the way his hair was resting against his forehead and the way his dazzling blue eyes sparkled, bright, wide and full of a sense of adventure.

"I could have, I could have made mine a firewhisky, but I didn't. So stop moaning and drink it" Draco handed out the goblets, the five got comfy and began to talk about their houses.

"What's Snape like when he's not torturing people?" Harry asked; now lay on his back in front of the fireplace with his arms cushioning his head.

"Snape's ace" Blaise laughed, "You can do or say anything to him and he won't give you a detention if it's only slytherins around.

"He's a good teacher" Draco added, he was sat opposite Harry reading, with his legs stretched out, his feet almost touching the side of Harry's thighs. Harry had gooseflesh skin, he wanted so badly for their bodies to touch, just in a small way. He had no idea why he longed for this but it frustrated him that Draco's bare skin was so close, and there was no excuse to touch it.

Just as Harry had wished this, a small moth flew over and gave him that excuse, the excuse that would dare him to touch the porcelain skin in front of him. It landed neatly on Draco's foot, its metallic cream wings resting upon its back.

"You've got a pet" Harry said casually, inside his heart was a furiously beating against his chest, the sound of his pulse rushed into his ears as his hand slowly stretched out and he brushed away the moth from the smooth edge of Draco's foot.

Draco watched as the moth's wings began to beat and it flew up into the air. "Thank you" he said, smiling brightly at Harry before continuing to read.

"No problem" the boy breathed back. Mission accomplished.

Now that he knew the other boy would not curl back in disgust at his touch, Harry could use every excuse he could think of to cheat at his own game and bring back that fluttering, bubbling airy feeling inside his chest and stomach by placing his hand on Draco. The odd clap on the back here, if they got closer. Maybe a handshake or two, and still no-one would ever know what those sparkling silver eyes did to him. Made his heart melt and his stomach leap.

Still, there were no questions answered, Harry had to work hard now and get closer to Draco, just to satisfy his curiosity about the amazing emotions he suddenly had. Blaise unknowingly had the answer to this.

"You know," The boy started, examining his nails for a second before continuing, "I think we should move the entire library here, book by book, have a sort of study club going on. Like, with just us five. That could be cool"

"How would we get them here?" Hermione asked playfully, looking up at Blaise from where she was knelt on the floor by his armchair.

"Well, my dear" He winked before leaning in and whispering "Crabbe and Goyle are a few sizes bigger than me and Draco here, so, we borrow their robes and hey presto, pockets as big as tents."

Hermione laughed, her brown eyes met his. He smiled at her, showing off his amazing white teeth. Hermione had never met anyone who could make her laugh like that about something completely stupid. Harry saw Draco looking at the pair and smiling, he caught Harry's eye and wiggled his eyebrows. Harry had to suppress the urge to giggle and blush by sipping from his goblet.

"Yeah, of course Blaise, we'd get the whole Library out before Madam Pince noticed wouldn't we" Theo rolled his eyes and threw a scrunched up piece of parchment from his pocket at his friend.

"Head Boy, Head Girl, you saw that. ABUSE!" He laughed before giving a wolfish grin at Theodore. " Y'know, we could invite her along to our little get- together times. Me, You, Draco, Harry plus Madam Pince, are you hearing me? We could _PAR-TAAAY" _Blaise exaggerated his point even further by standing up and thrusting his hips a few times, causing Hermione to blush a deep crimson red.

"You, you just sicken me, really Blaise you do." Draco was frowning at his out of control friend. "I mean that was just disgusting, however, study club, that's good, you can all come up here to do your homework now, keep me company"

"Up for it with pincey Harry?" Blaise clicked his tongue at the emerald eyed teen.

"No thanks I'll stick to my own age Blaise"

"More for me and Theo then" Blaise snorted.

"You can count me out too, I'm not really into tweed"

Draco roared with laughter, he looked round to face Nott on his seat Draco was resting his back against, "That has to be the funniest retort you've ever come up with"

"Yeah Theo, why couldn't you be like that with the griffin-goers in past years when me and Draco had to come up with all the nasty names and such like, I was fast running out of ideas you know" Zabini frowned.

Hermione and Harry caught each others eyes and laughed out loud "Griffin-Goers?" Harry raised his eyebrow at Draco.

"Yeah, that's the best we could come up with in first year and it just stuck" Draco replied laughing at his own creation.

"So I'm guessing I was the biggest Griffin-Goer around then?" Harry smirked at Malfoy in a manner that could have been mistaken for flirtatious.

"No, Weasley was, he didn't give us any good banter, you were second and then Hermione" Blaise answered for Draco and patted Hermione's head as he finished his sentence. She looked down to hide her smile and blush but Harry and Draco exchanged knowing looks again.

--

It was getting dark outside Draco's window, they were all happily chatting, getting more and more familiar with each others likes, dislikes and personality traits. Theodore had an odd way of interjecting into conversations with a witty remark, but he never missed a trick. _'That's why he's in slytherin then, cunning and crafty' _Harry had thought after Nott had done this a couple of times.

Hermione was smiling, her head resting on Blaise's knee while he played with her curls.

"You alright down there, fuzz?" he asked, Hermione looked up at him and smiled brightly at this nickname whilst nodding.

Draco leaned into Harry "They actually really suit, don't you think?" The blond whispered in his ear. His breath brought Harry's strong emotions back, they roared inside him, urging the boy to act now and touch Draco's soft hair, but he couldn't. Not yet anyway. He couldn't allow himself to act on impulses, as he had no idea why they were there. What on earth could make him want to feel Draco?

He replied to the boy "You're right , they do" Harry smiled looked Hermione, she and Blaise just seemed to fit together, she needed someone to lighten her up once in a while and he needed someone to help him concentrate and be serious about his work. It just worked, no matter how different they were.

"Loads of girls would go mad if he got with her" Draco whispered again, he did not want his best friend to feel the need to move himself or Hermione because Draco was talking about him.

Harry's heart stopped, the feeling fell back into its slumber and a weight pressed against his chest. "Are you jealous?" He asked, not wanting to hear what came next.

"Of course not" Draco laughed under his breath, "she's not my type at all, I'm glad he's found someone he can respect"

"Oh, I see" Harry laughed quietly too, the weight lifted and he relaxed again. "Can I ask you something, Draco?"

"Go for it" The blond looked at him inquisitively.

"How come you weren't killed in the war between me and Voldemort, or how come you're not in Azkaban now?" it was a pressing subject, Harry knew it, he'd been there, on the other end of that field, nothing but death and destruction surrounding him.

"That, I think, is a thing to discuss at a time better fitting than now, Harry, don't you agree?" Draco had said his name so softly, them two syllables had made Harry's heart jump for joy. The raven haired boy nodded, he understood what was being said. This was something they needed to talk about on their own.

The group started a game of exploding snap which quickly deteriorated as Draco threw the cards out of their circle and called it a stupid game when he hadn't won. Harry couldn't help but laugh at his pout, when he had won and Draco had not.

"Aw Draco, I'm sure you'll win next time"

"Next time, Mr Potter, we're playing a game I can win!" Draco stretched himself out on the floor and groaned as his back cracked and he settled down with his eyes closed. Blaise was smiling softly at his best friend.

"I've not seen you relax that much in a while" the Slytherin teen said, Nott nodded in agreement and smiled at Draco.

The ice prince opened one eye lazily "When was the last time I relaxed then?" He asked, both eyes opening and one eyebrow lifting up.

Blaise shook his head and grinned "never mind" him and Theo caught a glance with each other and smiled.

"You have to tell me now, you got some secret camera or something? Been filming me? Come on you can't have a secret about me than _I'm _not allowed to know" Draco was frowning with annoyance, but his two friends just nodded at each other and continued to relax themselves.

Harry gazed at a patch of Draco's bare skin that had been revealed when he lay down, his jumper had come up just showing off his hip bones, they curved perfectly and stuck out just the right amount. Harry had to mentally scorn himself for being willed to touch, to run his finger along that bone line and make Draco shiver. To get a reaction from the boy, anything, just to make sure Draco acknowledge what Harry had done. He let his eyes trail along the bone to Draco's waistline but did not let himself touch.

Draco could see Harry looking at him, he wanted to know what the boy was thinking. Was he remembering all the times they'd fought? All the times Draco had hurt Hermione's feelings? Or was it something completely different? Was he wondering about the answer to the question he had asked Draco? He would have to answer that soon, but they needed time a lone, a lot of time, Draco had six years worth of daily apologies to give. Perhaps he would suggest a walk in the woods.

Hermione had fallen asleep on Blaise, she was dreamily smiling to herself, only stirring once or twice. Harry was so envious of the excitement that must have been running round Hermione's head, he wanted his excitement to be real, not just over a word, or a touch, but over something real, something he could actually relate back to when he was in bed at night, rather than remembering snippets of things that might make him feel that head rush.

He decided then and there it was time for a second player to be introduced. Tomorrow morning he would get up early, come here before breakfast and tell Draco all the things that had been going through his mind. What did he have to lose? From that he would get the biggest adrenaline boost ever, he would be shaking with anticipation but it would be so delicious, so new, so invigorating to make a decision purely off emotion.

--

It had gone midnight by the time the four students were leaving Draco to himself in his room, Harry and Hermione left first, Blaise gave Hermione a one-armed hug before she walked down the stairs and he ruffled Harry's hair.

"Always wanted to do that" He said, "Looks so…fun"

"Goodnight Harry" Draco smiled, his eyes brightening to silver and his teeth exposed under his lip, Harry felt breathless.

"Goodnight, I'll see you tomorrow"

Harry smiled to himself as he followed Hermione. That was most definitely a promise.

Theo bid Draco and Blaise goodnight and rushed down the corridors for fear of getting in trouble, he, much like Neville Longbottom, had always feared professor Snape, his cold stern stares made Theodore shiver.

Blaise lingered outside his best friend's door, grinning at the blond stood in front of him.

"What now, Blaise?" Draco rolled his eyes and laughed at the Slytherin boy.

"Nothing, nothing at all, it's just," he paused for effect "I really need a girl like Hermione, she's just awesome"

Before Draco could say anything, Blaise Zabini jumped down the first seven steps and raced to catch up to his other best friend. He would just have to see Draco's reaction to this news at breakfast tomorrow, for tonight he would just think about possible ways of asking the Gryffindor girl out.

--

**A/N:** Reviews? You all know how much I need feedback, Do you think this chapter seems rushed? I love the Blaise and Hermione thing, its cute. :D VIKEMON


	5. Chapter 5: Delayed Reaction

Chapter 5; Delayed Reaction

**Chapter 5; Delayed Reaction**

**A/N: **_I am so sorry. I am a bad writer, no updates for days! I've been busy with history coursework. It sucked the entire colour out of my inner Viki. ;( Well, here's my very late update, Mr Potter and Mr Malfoy arrange a date ;_

--

Harry woke up too early; he looked around at his housemates sleeping. It was just past dawn and he had still not stopped thinking about Draco. He thought about the promise he had made to himself last night, it seemed so rash now, almost idiotic. Harry was glad he was the only one who knew what went on inside his head, as had anyone else known, this morning would end in total embarrassment. How could he go to Draco's room and tell him how he felt when he had no idea what words to use to describe it? No, it was too complicated, it was too soon.

Harry battled with his own thoughts, if he put this off now, would he ever get round to it? Would he ever gain the courage to do what needed to be done if he just sat back and thought about things too deeply all the time? He had so many questions yet no answers, his head hurt; different thoughts were darting around his mind like spells reflected off mirrored walls. It all felt too much right now. Where had that simplicity gone? The plain sailing emotions he'd felt last night. Where had his addiction to the adrenaline disappeared to? Harry wondered about what he should do, if he acted too quickly, he may do something he'd regret for the rest of his life, but if he didn't act soon enough, the game he was playing may quickly fade away. The thought of his last year being dull and boring made him come to terms with what he wanted.

The teen made his decision. He needed time to plan this, to make everything precise, yet freelanced. He needed to observe his target, take notes, and figure out his own feelings before he acted upon them. It was the best thing he'd thought of yet. First things first, test the limits. He'd have to try and little disguised flirting, small things that could allow him to receive the same sort of thing from Draco, but if questioned about it, the answer would be that his actions had been misconstrued. It was perfect, it could not fail.

The raven haired boy knew the exact moment to start his experiment, on his private talk with Draco. If he could get the depressive reflections and apologies over with and out of the way, he could swiftly change to subject to something that would keep the blond slytherin talking to Harry for a long time. And if they were in private then Harry had no worries.

The pink sky outside stretched over Hogwarts grounds and the Forbidden forest, Harry sat himself on the window ledge, his legs were getting too long to sit comfortably now so he held his knees close to his chest as he rested his forehead against the cool glass. He wondered what it would be like to hop on a broom and simply follow the skyline; would it actually lead anywhere? Perhaps he was already doing something similar, following a path that could lead him to nothing. He sighed and looked over to the pumpkin patch where he and Hermione had once set Buckbeak the hippogriff free. If a creature nearing the end of its life could follow the skyline, so could Harry.

He decided to be ready for what the day ahead had in store. He slowly dressed himself making sure he looked smart and tidy. He fought with his hair and managed to get it into some sort of order before going to clean his teeth and wash. He felt organised, especially as he had his Extreme Magic essay ready to hand in, two whole days early. He wondered if this was how Draco felt all the time. Being so well prepared was nice, Harry felt confident and refreshed, unlike his usual morning self; disgruntled and often cursing loudly.

By the time the golden boy had finished checking himself from every position possible, Seamus was starting to rouse from his sleep. The Irish teen walked into the bathroom scratching the back of his head whilst muttering something about transfiguration.

"Mornin' Harry, you're up bright and early, what's the occasion?" He asked before stretching his arms out and yawning.

'_Draco Malfoy,' _Harry thought, a mischievous grin almost taking control of his face. "No occasion Seamus, I just woke up too early," He said, walking past the boy and grabbing his bag from on top of his trunk.

--

Hermione was tying her hair into a neat bun when she heard a knock on her door; she walked over with her hair pins in between her teeth and opened it to find Harry grinning on her doorstep.

"Morning Harry," She said with difficulty.

"Good Morning Hermione. You ready to go down to breakfast?" Harry's heart skipped a couple of beats as he realised that just beyond the door behind him was the one and only Draco Malfoy.

"Just one moment and I will be," the girl replied, she beckoned Harry in and motioned for him to shut the door. The girl went over to the mirror and pinned most of her hair back to stop it escaping her bun, leaving two strands of loose curls framing her face. She looked pretty; Harry knew why she was suddenly putting in the effort and grinned.

'_Looks like I'm not the only one trying to impress someone today,' _He thought to himself.

The head girl picked up her bag and packed two more heavy books into it and smiled at her friend. "Okay, I'm ready, extreme magic first Harry, I'm quite excited. Finally going to learn thing's I've never imagined could even be done."

"And a chance to see Master Zabini," Harry winked and nudged Hermione with his elbow; she blushed and giggled a little.

"Well, there is that too I suppose," the girl locked her door magically and followed Harry down the stairs past the owlry.

They walked in silence for a while, both occupied by their own thoughts. Both occupied by thoughts of two boys that were not that far away, the very same two boys that actually happened to be walking down the corridor no more than four meters behind them.

Harry and Hermione sat themselves down at the end of the Gryffindor table, Draco and Blaise entered the hall and nodded at them as they walked past.

"Morning Fuzz," Blaise grinned at Hermione, he noted about her different hair style and how beautiful she looked.

"Good Morning Blaise," She smiled sweetly at him, causing him to stare at her until he sat down on the Slytherins quarter of the hall.

Harry wolf whistled under his breathe as Hermione looked down happily at her plate, trying to hide the excitement on her face.

The raven haired boy grinned and looked over at the Slytherin table; Draco had a fork in one hand and the Daily Prophet in the other. Harry never read the prophet after the lies it had spread about him, yet there was something about Draco concentrating that made Harry unable to direct his eyes away from the boy; he knew it was risky, staring so much, but resistance was most definitely futile.

It was only when Draco and Blaise were getting up and walking over that Harry realised he'd been staring at the blond for a lot longer than he'd thought he had. He hurriedly shoved food into his mouth and grabbed his bag off the floor to start walking with them.

Hermione and Blaise walked in front of their two friends, happily chatting and holding hands.

"Harry…" Draco said awakening the raven haired boy from a dream state that he'd drifted off into.

"Mhm?"

"Well, about that talk we need to have, I wondered if you could meet me by the lake just before lunch. It's too cold for anyone to be out walking, we'd have total privacy." The boy looked down at his shoes, this was obviously very embarrassing for him, Harry almost found it adorable.

"Yeah, that's a good idea. I was actually going to ask about that today funnily enough," He replied with his heart cheerleading in his chest, round one of testing the limits was on.

"Great, we'll meet at the lake before lunch then," Draco turned to smile at him before pushing the door open to their classroom.

The boys sat down and waited for Tonks to begin their lesson on controlling their magic.

--

For Harry, the next two hours were filled with nothing but excitement and nervousness, he spent Extreme Magic and Transfiguration chewing the skin around his thumb wondering how this meeting was going to go. Since he was not in the same Transfiguration as Draco he could not monitor how the other boy was acting before their talk, he had seemed perfectly fine in Extreme Magic, then again, with his ability to make it look like he feels nothing at all, Harry would never know.

When the bell sounded for lunch, it took the raven haired boy a few seconds to realise that this was the time, his heart started racing and he wanted to run, to see Draco, the adrenaline fuelled him with energy, he couldn't wait. To his despair every step he took towards the doors seemed to be in slow motion, all he could do was try and keep his expression indifferent and calm.

Draco looked down at his watch, Harry must be on his way, or had he forgot? He sat on a boulder by the rock, looking heavenwards, he had needed to get everything off his chest since the war had ended, and he was relieved Harry had given him a chance to do so. There was so much to be said. Harry had to come.

The Gryffindor boy pulled the iron handle and slipped outside before anyone had time to ask him where he was going. He looked over to the lake and his heart back flipped, Draco seemed to glow in the autumn light, his hair shining white as he sat waiting for Harry. With each step the boy took towards Draco, his heart seemed to move up into his throat more. He stood in front of the blond for a few seconds before speaking.

"Hey, mind if I sit?"

"I do actually, I have somewhere else planned. It's much more private," Draco got up, smiled at Harry and began to walk, gesturing for his companion to walk by his side.

"I'm glad we've been given a chance to become friends this year Harry," Draco smiled and motioned for them to enter the forbidden forest down a path Harry had never noticed before, he swallowed and thought for a moment about how to reply.

"Me too, I never thought we'd get on, but now we do, I'm beginning to wonder why we weren't friends before."

"Maybe it was the fact that I was a little bit of an arse," The blond laughed a little and looked at Harry "I guess we wasted a lot of time, but, better late then never."

Harry laughed too, "Well, maybe I was a little bit of an arse too," he smiled to himself; they had both been major arses in their time.

Draco walked ahead a little and lead Harry into a clearing that was close to the edge of the forest, the floor was frosted white and the path lead to iron gates and a fence.

"Just through here," Draco said opening one of the gates, "Not many people know about this place."

Harry walked through after Draco and his mouth dropped, a small apple orchard stood in front of him, benches winding round every apple tree, he wondered how no-one had ever noticed it.

"Me and Blaise used to come in here to talk about things," Draco sat down on a bench and rested his head against the tree trunk.

Harry sat down next to the boy and took a deep breathe, "Right, I may not want to know the answer to this but I won't let it affect anything as it is now, how did you escape dying or Azkaban?"

Draco turned and looked deeply at Harry, "You're going to love this," he whispered softly before beginning. "Yes, I was training to join my father as a Death Eater, as was Blaise. At the time we thought it was cool, we thought it was fun, until our so called training had to be put into practice, it was too horrid, having to kill people, or torture them, so instead all we did was threaten information out of them then told them to move far away and get a new name or we'd be back for them.

"I just couldn't do it, I couldn't follow in my fathers steps. We fucked up a couple of times and got punished, an hour of the cruciatus curse was meant to put us in our place, of course it didn't. We were held in a camp, if you can call it that, given our robes and masks and we were trained to use our wands before our brains, 'Kill before you can be killed,' that was the motto there. We could not stand it, it was awful, and I saw so many people getting tortured. People who didn't even know a thing about you or the order of the phoenix. So when we had time, we began to plan our escape, we knew it was the only way out.

"One night, we met up and we just went for it, we ran out of the grounds of the manor where we were kept with other trainees, I nearly lost my life when we were fired at; I was weak for a few days afterwards. Blaise looked after me. That's why we're so close. We stayed in the cellar at one of my fathers mansions, I'd discovered it when I was little but my Mother had never found it, I used to hide there when they were angry at me, they'd never find me. I lost a lot of power as well, because of being tortured, I think what Blaise meant the other night when he said he hadn't seen me relax in a while was about when he saw me relieved and relaxed when my powers came back. We went hunting in the woods near the mansion to gain food, I lay down on the floor and let all my magic come back, because I'm elemental I can absorb it from the earth, I think he meant that, I must have looked the same way the other night. Well, after that we just waited for word to come about the end of the war, I knew it would be soon enough, and it was. We planned to come back to Hogwarts and lead normal lives, ignoring what happened. And that's how I escaped death and Azkaban. The ministry knows all about it."

Harry looked in awe, "You escaped Voldemort?"

"Yep, not liked you've never done that though," Draco smiled.

"I've never run from him. Wow, that's just…awesome."

Draco laughed, "How come?" he raised an eyebrow.

"Because that completely takes the piss for Voldie."

"I suppose it does, so, I guess now's my time to say, I'm sorry for being a complete arsehole to you and your friends Harry, I regret everything I've said in the past that would hurt you." He looked at Harry and waited for his apology to be accepted.

"Don't worry about it, we're equal, we were both arseholes, I'm sorry too, I regret wasting all these years hating you Draco."

The blond nodded and smiled. "Would you like some lunch?" He asked, waving his hand so a tray appeared in front of him full of sandwiches and slices of cake.

"Yeah, thanks, this took less time than I thought it would, I thought we were going to start debating over everything we've done."

"Me too actually, but this is much better," He waved his hands again and two glass goblets appeared, full of pumpkin juice.

Harry decided it was time to dig into Draco, no more depressive conversation, no more tip toeing about the matter; it was time to find out what he really felt about the raven haired boy. He stretched so his shirt rose to reveal his finely tuned stomach, his muscles built up from Quidditch and work-outs over the summer. As he suspected, Draco's eyes were held on Harry's body for a few seconds before the boy looked away hoping he had not been seen.

Always the game player, Draco decided to bend down and re-tie his boot lace, his pale yet muscular back exposed to the cold air, Harry gawped, he was not able to stop looking like Draco was, elegant bone lines were visible through the white glowing skin, it was beautiful and Harry had to fight to resist the temptation to touch Draco's back and let his fingers trace over those lines down to the start of the boys boxers, he pushed any thought about what lay further than that out of his mind. That was something to be thought about in private.

Draco re-appeared from his boots and grinned, taking a sandwich and nibbling on it.

Harry grinned back, his cheeks pink and his mind wondering. He thought about what it would be like to watch Draco get undressed, to see the rest of his pale body, or what it would be like to touch his skin and run his fingertips all over the smoothness.

They talked about Blaise and Hermione, and Draco asked Harry if he'd finished his Potions essay, the answer was evidently going to be negative.

"Great we can get the study group in my room again," The Slytherin boy smiled happily and drained his goblet.

"I was hoping you'd say that I'm useless at potions, I could do with the help."

Draco laughed and they arranged to walk up together after dinner.

When the food was gone and Draco had got rid of the tray and goblets, he looked down at his watch.

"Time for Magical Business Study," He sighed. "I'm so going to fail this lesson. They both hate me."

Harry patted the boy softly on the shoulder and smiled "They won't when they see you've changed."

They strolled towards the warmth of Hogwarts, in silence, both content in their own thoughts, thoughts about each other. The atmosphere around the grounds shifted as feelings swirled inside the two teens and emotions changed direction. This was no game.

**A/N:**___Again, I'm so sorry I didn't update faster! I hope you liked this chapter, tell me what you think. VIKEMON._


	6. Chapter Six: Revelations

**Chapter Six;**

**A/N: **_So sorry about my lack of updates, I've been so busy! I should have more time to write (: here's the next chapter at least, big shocker! _

--

The next few days were a blur for Draco Malfoy as he struggled to work out what he was feeling, he had been fine in that hour of Magical Business Study after his talk with Harry, but when dinner arrived and he sat thinking about what had happened, his stomach twisted and turned, his head felt light and he needed to lie down, he couldn't work it out. How had that happened? How had they gone from having a friendly conversation to flirting shamelessly? And how on earth could Draco have let himself go like that? He couldn't figure any of it out, he felt like desperately sliding into his comfy bed and never returning to reality, but unfortunately, this was not possible, he had an education to gain.

As he got showered and dressed Draco wondered if Harry had planned what had happened, or if Harry was feeling exactly how he was feeling right now. He decided he would not press the subject with his friend; it could make things all too complicated between them. If Harry brought it up, Draco would talk. He'd tell the truth too, Draco had enjoyed their flirting game, he had a certain thrill off teasing Harry, he knew he was good looking and he knew what he could do to people. One look from Draco Malfoy could stop a girl dead in her tracks and keep her staring in awe even after he had passed. But a boy was different, it was something to experiment with, to play with and see what happened. Draco grabbed his bag off the floor and swiftly left his room, a smile playing on the corners of his lips. This was going to be fun, even if it was dreadfully confusing.

--

Blaise was already sat at his usual place at the slytherin table when Draco arrived; he was sat with the Daily Prophet on his lap, reading something intently, a furious look on his face.

"What's wrong?" Draco's brow furrowed as he studied Blaise's expression, whatever this was, it was serious. No matter what the problem Blaise would make a joke, laugh it off and come out stronger and with a few new jokes for the future, this was different, he looked so angry, it was almost scary for Draco to see his best friend this way.

Blaise rose from his seat and thrust the Daily Prophet at his best friend, folding his arms as Draco read the headline.

Draco's good mood shattered, he gripped the edges of the paper in anger. The blond stormed over to where Snape was sat, followed by Blaise, and slammed the paper down on the table, his eyes narrowed and his cheeks reddening from their usual pale white softness. The mood of the entire hall stirred, most of the students' eyes were now on the two Slytherin boys and their head of house.

"Right," Snape said, his eyes grew colder than ever. He looked up at his two pupils and stood. "Follow me"

Hermione tried to ask Blaise what was going on as he and Draco walked out of the hall with Snape, but the boy didn't hear her. She looked at Harry who was quickly unrolling his own Prophet, his face went pale and his mouth opened.

"What? What is it?" Hermione stressed, she was concerned now, scared for Blaise.

Harry passed her the paper and took a sip of his pumpkin juice, he pushed his plate away and waited for Hermione to say something, he wanted to be at potions early, in case Draco came back, Harry wanted to be there for him.

The girl looked at the two pictures on the front page of the Prophet, two mansions stood in ruins, amongst the wreckages she could just make out different rooms, ballrooms, kitchens and bedrooms. Her eyes wondered to the headline.

'**Malfoy and Zabini Multi Million Mansions searched and torched by Government Officials'**

She gasped and looked at Harry.

"No, they can't do this, that's completely unfair, the wars over, what was the gain?" She burst into tears; she wanted to run out of the hall and find Blaise to grieve with him. She took another look at both grand houses.

"How could they possibly do this? They were Blaise and Draco's homes"

Harry placed his arm around Hermione but said nothing, he needed to see Draco. He wanted to tell Hermione everything just so she'd understand what he felt right now, and just so she had someone who felt the same way she did. He had to get her away from everyone so he could explain.

"Lets go to potions, they may be there with Snape" He kept his arm across her shoulders as they stood and went to walk out of the hall, he heard a tut off Ron and turned to see the red head shoot a dagger look at Harry.

"Oh grow up would you Ron, they're our friends, you callous git" he felt so angry, yet he couldn't help but notice how much he sounded like Draco with what he said, it was plain and to the point, yet sharp. No cursing, no stupid insults, it was much better than what Harry would usually have said – 'Piss Off'.

--

There was no sign of Draco or Blaise when they arrived in the cold corridor of the dungeons, Harry was glad. He chewed the edge of his thumb for a few seconds before seizing hold of his worry and turning to Hermione.

"I have something I need to tell you, desperately, I've been trying to keep it in but someone simply must know"

Hermione cocked her head slightly to the side and looked puzzled at Harry "You know how I feel about bottling emotions up Harry, let it out straight away" Her eyes were still full of tears and her nose was red, at least this way Harry could take her mind off things.

"I've just been very confused lately…" the raven haired boy stared at his shoes intently.

"Oh? Is it school work?"

"No not that sort of confused; more of… well…" He bit his lip and closed his eye for a moment before opening them and looking towards his friend "Hermione, I think I might be gay" he looked back down at his laces, cheeks burning with embarrassment.

"Is that it? Honestly?" She sounded so calm Harry was almost furious, it'd taken him so long to prepare himself for telling someone and that's the reply he got.

"No, that's not all. Recently I've been thinking about someone, someone I think I might like" He smiled thinking about his flirting session with Draco the day before. Hermione waited for Harry to say more, "I think I like Draco." He looked at her and grinned at her expression, her eyes had grown wider and her mouth had fallen open.

--

_A/N: Very short chapter, Next chapter will zoom in on what Draco and Blaise are up to here. Promise! VIKEMON. _


	7. Chapter 7: Defend Yourseves

**Chapter Seven: Defend Yourselves**

A/N: _This is a chapter mainly about Draco and Blaise; sorry about all the viewpoint changes, but I thought I should vary a bit in this situation. REVIEW PEOPLE! They keep me happy and they keep me going :')_

**--**

A comforting hand found its way to Draco's shoulder as Blaise watched him stare at the ruins of his once grand house. Draco looked down at his feet and looked as though he was struggling to put the situation into words.

"Draco I am lost for words that would be any comfort to you, I do not know what to do but may I suggest we go and search for things that may be precious to you?" Snape felt uncomfortable around the two grieving young men, he knew they would prefer to be alone to help each other but he was under strict instruction to not let them wonder off alone.

The young blond did not answer but walked in the direction of the ashes that were once his home, Blaise and Snape walked behind him.

Draco's eyes searched for anything he recognized, but what was left of his possessions was charred and twisted, he noticed a gleam of white beyond the blackened surroundings. He picked up the object and to his disgust found it was his fathers death eater mask, he looked angrily up at Snape.

"Typical, this would be the only thing that survived, the only thing my father cared about," he hurled the mask and watched it shatter into pieces, this gave him some satisfaction. He smirked in the same old fashion he had done for years, it was a smirk that bored into Blaise's very being feel and made him feel sick. It showed all of Draco's hatred towards Voldemort and the Death-eaters and reminded Blaise of the pain he had seen his best friend go through.

Draco had grown up in the manor, it was where he had first rode a broom, where he had first met Blaise when their mothers arranged a play date, and where he first started to appreciate his talents. The house had not been gone long but he missed it. Although there were bad memories, he would miss sitting on his window ledge and looking out over the many hills and dales that rolled around the outer edge of the Malfoy grounds. He would miss the serenity that came from sitting under a tree in mid springtime with one of his many books and analysing it until he knew every thought and feeling that went into it. He liked to spend time alone in the house and its grounds and he would most certainly miss his mother, now he had little reminder of her. Yes, the Malfoy heir owned several other mansions in the English countryside but none of them would have his mothers touch, none of his rooms would have his silk pyjamas neatly folded at the end of the bed, nor would they be pristinely clean with everything sparkling and precise order; biggest to smallest, alphabetical or just in order from favourite to least favourite. He missed his mother dearly and it saddened him to think of his childhood where she had picked him up and swung him round then folded him into her soft yet strong arms. Arms that were ever so protective of him, they stopped him receiving the dark mark and also from time to time had held him while he was unconscious on the floor from Lucius's torture.

"Shall we head over to yours now?" Draco looked worriedly at Blaise, he did not want to see the Zabini mansion like this, Blaise's parents had adored him and Draco, and the young Malfoy boy knew how much home meant to his companion.

Blaise swallowed hard and nodded, they turned to Snape and with a flick of the man's wand they were stood outside a similar wreckage. The Zabini Mansion had once been a hosting place of Christmas balls and Birthday Dinner Parties. Draco had enjoyed these times so much, where he and Blaise would sneak out and either sit just talking or play Quidditch – he knew exactly how his best friend was feeling at this exact moment and he wanted nothing more than to comfort him and tell him that everything was going to be okay, but he knew nothing would really ever be the same again.

Blaise took a step forward, his body shaking he scanned the ruins for some small comfort, and his eyes widened.

"What the fuck?" His voice penetrated the deadly silence, Snape quickly turned round to see what was wrong.

"What? What is it?" He felt protective of the two boys and would help with whatever Blaise's problem was, the tanned boy in front of him pointed to the blazed out building.

Draco was already picking up the Zabini fathers death-eater mask and examining it.

"Not a scratch, how weird," he studied it more and held it out to Blaise.

"I don't fucking want it, do I? That's the thing that lost me my parents and now my fucking home too," his eyes sparkled as tears began to form, he looked at Draco in a way that said 'What can I do?' but he knew even his intelligent friend could not answer this, or even begin to work it out. He snatched the mask and threw it to the ground before vending his anger onto it and stamping on the porcelain until it looked more like white sand.

Snape pulled his cloak tightly round himself; he had a bad feeling about this, but now was not the time to discuss it with the boys. He brought them both back to him from the burnt site and apparated to the dock that brought first years to Hogwarts via boats. As they sailed towards the school the air fell cold and all were silent, contemplating the masks and how oddly they had been the only things to survive the flames at both estates. Draco sat with his head in his hands, not knowing what to do frustrated him and he needed to have some sort of answer, some link to why the masks had been the only things to survive, perfect as if they were new. Too perfect at that, they did not even look worn, this worried the boy to the point the hairs on the back of his neck stood up.

--

Upon arrival back into Hogwarts grounds, Snape left the two boys to talk alone. Draco sat on a bench near to the front doors of the school and motioned for Blaise to join him. The dark haired boy sat down but did not speak; he looked down at his feet as his cheeks reddened with anger.

He looked so childlike Draco had to put an arm round him. "Blaise…I don't understand this, and I don't think I will for a long time but, I think we should go back during the Christmas holidays, there are some charms that can repair small objects. You know, things we can remember our parents by."

Blaise sniffed, "You seriously want to remember your dad? He was nuts," the Italian smiled and looked up, "But I know what you mean, and I think it's a good idea."

"I just don't understand the ma-"

"Don't," Blaise's jaw clenched, "I don't want to talk about that."

"One day?"

The boy nodded in reply and repeated softly, "One day."

Draco's arm slid from round his best friend and he used it to hold himself instead, small protection from the cold, he was not ready to go in, the sun was just going down and the sky high above the two boys would soon be netted with the lights of a thousand stars and more. His lips curved upwards at this thought, he loved to gaze at the glittering orbs that twinkled at night, it made him feel small and insignificant, he could ruin everything for himself and yet nothing up there would change. He would never make a difference. This thought comforted Draco Malfoy in many ways.

--

Harry left Hermione in the library, taking her mind off the day's events, instead of going to dinner he decided to visit Hagrid, he had not seen much of him this year and he wanted to thank him for his help during the war. The half-giant had fought so selflessly, marking Harry and defending him every step of the way, even when faced with the horror of Lord Voldemort. He walked along the corridors, the paintings flashed past him, he had never gazed upon them long enough to figure out their meaning, he promised himself he would as he turned into the entrance hall and pushed the heavy oak door.

The wind was sharp and cold; it stung Harry's eyes until they streamed. Harry jumped as voices came from round a curved corner, he looked round to see who was out in such awful weather and saw Draco comforting Blaise. He paused for a while not sure of what to do, he didn't want to be an intruder, yet he wanted so badly to express his own outrage at the ministry. He stepped quietly over to them and waited until they looked up.

"Hello Harry," Draco said, budging up to allow his new found friend to sit beside him.

"Hi… you two okay?" he bit his lip, ready for some sort of bitter reply.

"We're okay, just fucking furious," Blaise replied, he smiled at Harry, glad someone cared to ask how they were instead of avoiding the question as most would have done.

"I don't blame you; that were completely unnecessary and vicious."

Draco nodded, "Bastards." He frowned, "I ought to sue; I had a lot of valuables."

Harry grinned; his tummy had flipped as Draco's elegant eyebrows had narrowed to create a stern and powerful look.

Draco's shoulders relaxed, he felt so much more at ease around Harry, he didn't know if it was the boys open aura or warmth that made him feel so free or whether it was something completely different, but he liked being so relaxed.

"How was potions without Snape?" he asked, he was annoyed to have missed his favourite lesson but glad it wouldn't have been that bad because he had been with his master while it had been in order.

"Brilliant, we did absolutely nothing, Tonks was in charge," Harry smiled at Draco and got a breathtaking smile in return.

The looks lingered for a while and the Gryffindor boy felt his heart begin to pound in his chest, he was about to break the bond when Draco's eyes narrowed and his head swung to Blaise who was gripping onto his arm with some force.

"What is it?" Draco asked, swallowing hard.

"Over there," his friend nodded over to the trees on the outer edge of the forbidden forest.

Harry concentrated and finally found a small figure silhouetted, half hiding behind a trunk.

"Who is it?" he whispered, he knew whoever it was could not hear but something inside warned him, he knew nothing good would come of the person who was stood watching them from across the lawn.

"No idea, but they're about to get a blasting," Blaise stood and pulled his wand from inside his robes, his best friend pulled the instrument from his grip.

"We don't know who it is, moron."

"I don't care who it is, their creepy."

"He has a point," Harry inputted.

"No, he doesn't, for all we know, that could be Flitwick's tiny frame spying on us wondering why we aren't eating," Draco said heatedly, pointing towards their spectator.

Blaise looked at Harry and raised his eyebrows, "Tell him Harry."

"Don't you try and manipulate him," Draco shook the boy a bit.

"I'm not but seriously Dray, I'm _not that_ sure that the gawping git over there has our best interests at heart."

"Neither am I Blaise and I'm sure Harry's wary too, but, we'll wait here and see who it is before we fire them into oblivion okay?" He unhanded the edgy teen he was addressing and stepped back.

"Are you kidding? I'm freezing my arse off here and that could take hours."

"Not really, their heading this way," Harry was stiff with nerves as he pointed this out, he agreed with Blaise and was suspicious of the character whose face they could not see.

Both Slytherins turned quickly, and true to Harry's word the silhouette was moving slowly towards them, fighting against the wind and trying not to lose their footing, it looked so sinister, all three boys stood watching took hold of their wands, ready for the unexpected to happen. Unknowing that their friends had done the same as them, and unknowing that this was probably the wisest choice they would ever make.

--

Hermione sighed as she flicked through the pages of a book on mountain trolls and how to trick or defeat them, she couldn't concentrate. She wanted Harry to come back, just so she would have some form of company, and someone to talk about the fires with. She smiled at the thought of Harry's confession; he and Draco would make such a handsome couple she could hardly argue against her friend's choice of partner. Although Ron would not be happy about it, not one bit. Then again, Ron Weasley was not happy about much these days, she missed his company and let herself fall forwards to bang her head on the desk.

"Ow," her muffled voice said, to what she thought was an empty room.

Someone sat beside her and she looked up, said redhead was smiling apologetically at her, his crystal blue eyes deep with concern. For a second she thought she was dreaming, but had it been a dream the hair would be black and fluffy, and the face would belong to Blaise Zabini. But it was not a dream and the boy in front of her did not hesitate to speak.

"Look, Hermione, I'm sorry about giving you and Harry the cold shoulder for so long. It'll take me a long time to get used to you two liking Malfoy and that lot, but I want my friends back and I know how stubborn I am, and I really am sorry, he looked down, embarrassed.

"Its fine Ronald, I understand, I know how awful he's been to all of us in the past and I understand your concern about him and Harry being close, after all they were after each others blood for years."

"Yeah, I'm glad you understand 'Mione, I guess I was a bit jealous of that extreme magic class too. How's that going?" He smiled, now relaxing; it had gone easier than he expected, there had been no rant from his friend.

Hermione noticed Ron's nickname and wondered if he had seen her talking to Blaise and thought he would stop them getting together, _'He can think again if he thinks he's stopping me dating who I like,' _she thought, before replying, "It's nothing worth being jealous about, just small wandless magic, your mother could teach you."

"Cool, yeah I suppose your right, so, where's Harry? I need to talk to him too."

Hermione's eyes widened, she had thought Harry had gone to dinner, Ron would have seen him there, one word popped into her head. '_Draco,' _She regretfully shrugged Ron off "I don't know, maybe he's gone to get an early night."

"Oh, I'll tackle him tomorrow then," the boy nodded in agreement to his own sentence. "So, what's he like?"

Hermione looked confused at the last statement; the boy looking at her rolled his eyes as if she were stupid.

"Malfoy, what's he really like? Who is the man behind the ice mask?"

Hermione snorted, "Ice mask?! And he's lovely, he's charming and funny and intelligent and he's the kind of head boy this school needs to keep things running smoothly."

Ron nodded again, "He's certainly impressed you fast, I hope you're not falling for him."

"No, I'm most certainly not," Hermione frowned, if she was falling for anyone, it was Blaise. Her thoughts wondered off at this tangent as she remembered how he'd stroked her hair and given her a sweet nickname, and how every time he saw her he'd smile, showing off his pearly white teeth that beautifully clashed with his tanned smooth skin. She daydreamed of how it would feel to lie in his arms, or how it would be to kiss him and be loved by him. She thought about how girls would be so jealous and shocked, they would never expect him to like someone like her, he was drop dead gorgeous and she was the shy studious girl. Yet somehow when they were together they fitted perfectly.

--

"Hermione? Are you even listening to me?" Apparently Ron had been talking at her for some time.

"Sorry, sorry, I was away with the fairies, what did you say?"

"I said, are you doing homework?" he tutted folded his arms.

"No, I'm just reading, I can't really get into it tonight," Her hand shoved the book closed and pushed it away from her.

"Right, then, come on, let's go sit in the common room and talk, I'm bloody freezing here!" The red head pulled at her arm impatiently, she stood to walk with him. She would have to find Blaise to speak with him in the morning. And would have to corner Harry about his emotions too.

--

"Can anyone make out who it is yet?" Draco asked, squinting in the darkness to try and figure out whose shape it was. It was too plump to be Flitwick.

"Not me." Harry breathed, condensation clouding in front of his mouth.

"Me neither, but I suggest you both do as I have and get ready to defend yourselves."

"I'm ready," Harry and Draco said in unison, they looked at each other and smiled before turning back to the strange shape moving increasingly further towards them.

--

**A/N: **_So that's it for you ____ I'll get right to work on the next bit around Monday night, I've had writers black for a while now, but the next chapter should be interesting ____ PLEASEE REVIEW PEOPLE. I appreciate it and I need them to keep me in the mood for updating (: thanks, VIKEMON x_

_P.S; thank you to those who have added this story to their alerts/ favourites list- much gratitude [= KEEP READING._


	8. Chapter 8: You Can Take Mine

**Chapter Eight; **

**A/N: **_Trying to make my chapters shorter cos I have the feeling no-one reads this anymore, aha! Hope those of you who are keeping up with this story are still enjoying it (:_

--

Draco's breath caught inside his throat. He gripped his wand tighter. He liked not to alarm his two friends but the figure getting nearer to the three teens had become recognizable, and Draco had hoped to never meet such a man again.

The shadowed man stopped a few feet away from them, Harry squeezed his eyes shut, praying they were wrong. He looked sideward at Draco, whose face had paled and turned so placid and serene Harry would have thought him dead if he did not know what shock the boy was feeling.

"Malfoy, Zabini. How are our young blood traitors feeling? Not too well? Lost everything?" the figured sniffed then chuckled "Me too. "

Blaise charged forward but was stopped by his best friend's tight grip.

"Fuck off Pettigrew before I seriously mess you up" the Italian boy snarled, his slytherin side showing. Harry was glad Hermione wasn't there to see his burning eyes and gritted teeth.

The rat like man chuckled again "Don't be weak boy, say what you mean; you could not hurt anyone or anything. That is why you ran."

"I ran when I realized I was on the coward's side." Blaise smirked and folded his arms, Harry felt safe with the two cunning boys beside him. He knew that they would know just as much dark magic as Wormtail, perhaps even more.

"Is that so? What about you, Mr Malfoy? You risked your life, to be on a hero's arm?"

"No." Was Draco's short reply.

A snigger came from Wormtail, his breath condensing on the air.

"Draco, we're late for our detention with Hagrid. Let's just go, Harry can come. We'll leave this rotten rat to fester" Blaise's eyes were full of concern; he knew this night would not end well.

"No. I want to know why he's here" Ice-like eyes were piercing Peter Pettigrew's body with anger.

"Just wanted to see the aftermath of the flames"

"I knew it." Draco spat. "And the masks? You made them invincible." He laughed a little and stepped closer, getting into Wormtail's face. "Well, here's a little truth, that won't bring your master back. He wasn't invincible. He's gone. For good."

Harry winced, that must have been painful for the loyal servant.

Pettigrew squared up "I keep his will alive".

Draco turned his face away with a look of disgust.

"Your breath, it stinks"

"So does your attitude Malfoy. Here's a little truth for you, it was too easy putting Ministry officials under the imperius curse and watching them turn your birth right into dust."

"Oh you've gone too far-" Blaise was interrupted.

"I do not care. I could not care about anything you did to make me feel like crap. I have no respect for you whatsoever, I do not value your opinion on anything, get away from me." Draco walked past the small lump of a man and started heading over to Hagrid's cabin, gesturing for Blaise and Harry to follow suit.

"And as for your parents Blaise, they weren't killed by any member of the order. I killed them myself, tortured them first of course. They wouldn't tell me where you and mister Malfoy were, such stupid people."

The dark haired slytherin boy choked, he shook his head, and his body slumped. He looked at Draco's back for some comfort, only to see the boy shaking with fury.

Harry watched in awe as Draco spun round fast on his heel. "Say that again" he growled through his teeth.

"I said, Draco, that I tortured his parents to insanity. And then disposed of them. As they were worthless"

A green light sparkled around the blonde's whole body, shimmering round his slender fingers and letting off sparks that disappeared into the dark, Harry couldn't believe what he was seeing.

"Oh fuck" Blaise grabbed the Gryffindor's arm. "Get back, now!" he dragged Harry backwards by his arm, the two boys almost tripped over with their hurry.

--

Draco dropped his bag and once again stepped closer to the man who had made him so angry, the green shimmer around him grew deeper, and his eyes were fixed on the short death-eater in front of him.

"You underestimate me, Wormtail. I'm not one to have mercy on bastards like you." He said, his arrogance rising to the surface.

"Your weak, like your friend." The small man smirked, his scarred and dirty face twisting and mutating. "Pathetic."

"Watch me, Wormtail."

"Why? Why should I look at such a traitor of my faith?" Pettigrew's breath was obviously not affecting Draco now as he stepped even closer in.

"Because, beauty always has its dark side. And I'm the last thing you'll ever see, of course."

The man's eyes grew wide and he stumbled backwards while Draco merely narrowed his eyes to look like a cold, grey storm, and spoke two more words with no emotion to his voice.

"Arvada Kedavra."

--

For a moment after the lifeless body hit the ground, everything remained still and silent. Harry stared at Draco, the boys eyes had turned once again to a soft and comforting grey, he knew that was something the blonde could never imagine himself doing.

Blaise broke the spell and stepped forward, putting a hand on his best friend's shoulder.

"We'd best tell Dumbledore, you did the right thing mate, he was a threat"

Draco's voice was broken and shocked, "I killed him" he crouched down and examined the body that lay at his feet; he regained his composure and whispered to himself, "Pathetic."

Harry's eyes had been drawn to the warm glow of Hagrid's cabin, "Why don't we get your detention out of the way, then come back and alert Dumbledore, I think we all need to get out of shock first."

Blaise nodded slowly and Draco smiled at Harry, "yeah, I'm sure he won't mind you coming along, that's if you do want to come, I don't mind if you go back in and stay out of the cold."

Harry looked away to hide his blush "I don't mind coming."

Blaise grinned "Tell you what then Harry you can take my spot while I go eat and find Hermione" he clapped Harry on the shoulder and walked off towards the castle.

--

A/N: I haven't sent this to a BETA cos people are asking me to post this chapter; the next chapter will be all Draco and Harry. REVIEW!


	9. Chapter 9: Detention

Chapter Nine; Detention.

A/N: First of all I want to apologise for my lack of input on fanfic, I want to get this going again, and if you could read and review I would greatly appreciate it, thank you.

--

The two boys walked for a while in a somewhat uncomfortable silence before Draco spoke, his voice was soft and calm, it soothed Harry and he relaxed, keeping his eyes on the warm orange glow coming from Hagrid's cabin windows.

"Harry, I know that was a shock to you but I think I did the right thing, I hope you think so too."

The Gryffindor boy swallowed hard and nodded, then replied, "You did the right thing, he deserved everything he got, what after burning your homes and all."

"It's not really the houses that pushed me over the edge; I inherited six manors, all of equal size." Draco's eyes narrowed and he paused to think, before frowning deeply and dismissing whatever he had considered, "Besides, material goods mean near to nothing to me, it's just how much he contributed to Voldemort's upkeep. Maybe if he'd have been killed sooner, Voldemort would've stayed weak. No war." The blonde looked to Harry to see him nodding; he smiled. "Anyway, let's forget about it for now, and have a lovely time on this here detention."

--

There was a lot of rustling about and commotion before Hagrid finally opened his door - after Harry's third knock. He peered out of the crack he had created and looked the two boys up and down. He momentarily looked confused before his mouth opened slightly in realisation. "Ahh, yer detention's tonight is it Draco?"

"Yeah it is" Harry spoke before Draco could, "erm, Hagrid…what've you got in there?" Harry sounded unsure whether he wanted to know or not. Draco was desperately trying to look over the half-giant's shoulder, wanting to see what kept him from opening the door.

"It's nothin', nothin' to worry about." Hagrid had still not opened the door, Harry was unconvinced but not given time to object, "You two go on into the forest, I need the thestral pen cleaning out. Weeds 'ave been spreadin' like wild fire. Dig 'em up and take a sack to put 'em in"

Harry and Draco turned to go, sighing heavily. Before Hagrid shut the door there was an unmistakable sound of a dragon egg cracking loudly. Harry spun back round.

"Hagrid, you haven't!" His eyebrows furrowed, he didn't want his friend to get into trouble due to his helpless obsession with dragons.

Hagrid paused, rolling his eyes and opening the door widely, flooding Draco's eyes with light so he had to cover them.

"Yer'd better come in, both of yer"

The two boys shuffled in, removing their cloaks and stepping close to the fire, where the huge egg crackled and popped, quivering in a pan over the flames. Harry looked at the intricate detail; the pattern on the egg was like light on the bottom of the sea. It was an exquisite blue-grey colour. He sighed and looked at Hagrid.

"Where did you get this?"

"A fella' in Belgium were givin' him away. Said he had no room in his sanctuary. It's a ridgeback. Norwegian! They can be trained y'know!" The man busied himself with making three cups of tea, adding fire whisky to his own.

"I don't think he meant by non-experienced trainers when he told you that" Harry knew he may hurt Hagrid when he said this, but the man needed to know. He looked to Draco for support but the boy was just stood looking confused, even slightly annoyed.

A loud crack alerted the three wizards to the dragon's arrival, the egg had split down the middle. Harry bent over to watch, in awe. A small chubby claw broke through the shell, followed by a nose then finally the young beast fought its way out completely.

"Knew it." Draco breathed.

"Wha'?" Hagrid looked confused at Draco, his eyebrows had shot up as if he'd only just realised who Harry was keeping peaceful company with. "Is something wrong with 'im?"

"No, but, erm. That's no ridgeback. It's a Lakeland Flyer"

Hagrid gasped, "Dirty rotten scumbag! He tricked me."

"Hardly, Flyer's are much rarer, easier to keep too," The blonde raised a sceptical eyebrow at the bloody steak laid on the table, "they're herbivores, you can't feed them meat."

He demonstrated his fact by picking a smallish green leaf off Hagrid's window plant, and held it out to the dragon. The baby gratefully accepted it, affectionately nipping Draco's finger after it had devoured the leaf. He picked a few more and put them on the table before holding his arm out to the creature, allowing it to crawl onto him so he could put it down safely on the wood.

Hagrid stared down at his pet, his mouth slightly open. It had dark silver scales and murky grey wings, it's large round eyes were like pond green pebbles. The small animal sneezed and brought everyone in the cabin out of silence.

"What shall I call 'im?" Hagrid looked at the two boys, Harry shrugged.

"Well, that's another thing. This is a girl." Draco scratched the dragon's underbelly so it rolled over, he pointed to small fluffy white feathers lining the inside of the grey wing. "You can tell because they're meant to insulate eggs." He scratched the Dragon's stomach once more; it rolled from side to side, grabbing at Draco's hand with its small claws. "She's very affectionate, perfect pet actually."

"How do you know all that?"Harry gawped at Draco, who was still playing fondly with the baby beast.

"My mum used to keep dragons, she loved them. She didn't work so helped sanctuary's raise the young orphaned ones. They were easy to bring up in the dungeon of our mansion. I think it was her favourite past time, she'd let me help her during my summer holidays. And taught me how to recognize different types." His silver eye's had grown sad, he picked up the small reptile and looked at it properly, he handed it to Hagrid. "You should be able to keep it as long as it lives, they don't grow too much. It'll be the size of fang when it's stops growing."

"Nelly! I'll call 'er Nelly. Norbert's sister." He beamed down at the winged creature, which had gotten itself comfortable in his huge hands.

"Norbert?" Draco's eyebrow had risen once again.

"Don't ask" Harry replied, he was still in awe at Draco's knowledge of beasts.

Draco's eyebrow was still hiding under his fringe, he sighed and politely spoke "We should be getting on with our detention"

Harry nodded and finished his tea off, thanking Hagrid they both re-cloaked, left and set off for the thestral paddock.

--

"I can't believe you knew all that, your mum must've taught you a lot." Harry was in disbelief at how useful Draco had been to Hagrid about his new pet.

"Well, it was something I enjoyed learning about; if you have a passion for something it's easy to remember facts. I'm sure you're the same with Quidditch moves."

Harry thought for a bit, it was true, he could remember everything he had been taught about Quidditch, even all the information that came with his Firebolt, he smiled to himself then looked at Draco, the blonde was climbing over the locked gate leading to Thestrals, his head was bent down low but Harry could see his facial expression nevertheless, his eyes were dark, sad and he looked paler than usual.

"Draco, can I ask you something?"

The blonde did not turn round to face Harry, but started to pull the weeds out of the ground waving his hand above them and making a tugging motion, so they looked as if uprooting themselves due to his magic. "Ask away" he eventually replied. He knew what was coming.

"Do you miss your parents?" the raven haired boy had jumped down from the fence and stood still behind Draco, who had stopped. The Slytherin turned at last and swallowed hard.

"I'd be a liar if I said I didn't, I resent what my father stood for and what he told me was right, it feels as though I've been missing him far longer than his death. I miss how we were before I started Hogwarts, it was then he started to train me into a future death eater. I'll always miss mother, she was my idol, and she was always there for me. Then again I suppose no-one is ever truly lost until you forget about them, and I shall surely never forget my parents."

Harry was silent for a moment, "I never knew my parents, so I guess they'll always be lost for me"

"Not necessarily, all the fighting you did, you carried out their will. Your mother never died in vain, she was right to save you. You've also seen what they were like, the effect they've had on people. Especially Sirius"

"How do you know about Sirius?" Harry remembered that the Malfoy's were related to the Blacks, it was on the tapestry on the wall in the Noble house of Black.

"I remember him from when I was around 4 or 5, and I'd never forget him, I spent the whole family Christmas party at my Aunts following the man round asking him to charm the tree to spit baubles at people again. He did it every time I asked, regardless who I asked him to harm" Draco laughed. "He was great."

Harry smiled, it sure sounded like Sirius. He would never forget his godfather either; he was glad that someone else was fond of him and would miss him as much as he did.

The two boys got on with their job in silence, reflecting on what each other had said, Harry especially was shocked at Draco being so close with his family, he wanted to ask about Lucius, and more about Sirius, he could never imagine Draco loving someone, loving his family. He liked the thought, he took any chance to look at the boy, the bones in his hands looked so elegant, his fingers were long and moved gracefully, casting wordless wandless spells on every weed he saw.

From time to time Draco would catch Harry looking at him and smirk happily, the boy's hair was stuck up even worse than normal and his robe sleeves were pushed up, he was frustrated, trying to dig up a stubborn weed, which squealed and writhed when he tried to tug it up. Draco walked over and tried to magically remove the defiant plant; it wriggled around and sparkled a few times, but remained where it was. He rolled his sleeves up as Harry had done and began tugging, with help from his companion, the boys growled with fury as the put even more effort in. After some time, they became breathless, stepping back to examine the weed that caused them so much trouble.

A sudden noise from the trees startled them, they both jumped backwards, banging against the wooden fence, two sharp intakes of breathe were heard but both boys looked at each other, both in pain, trying to remain quiet. Another rustle from the trees concerned them, Harry moved closer to Draco.

"Do you think it's another death eater?" He whispered, gulping and looking at the blonde's face, trying to fathom out his expression in the increasing darkness of nightfall.

A soft finger pressed against Harry's lips, stopping him from speaking again. Draco's breathe tickled his ear as the boy leaned in and whispered "I'm pretty sure all of them were dead, but stay close and don't move, try and get your wand out without attracting attention"

Harry shuffled even more into Draco's space, his arm pressed into the side of the taller boy's waist and chest, he shivered, his lips were still sealed by the blonde. He searched for his wand and took it out, trying his best to be silent, he felt Draco do the same. He felt worried again, not wanting to see anyone from Voldemort's clan; he wanted to leave all that behind.

Draco looked at Harry, he noticed how smooth the boys lips were against his finger, he wanted to trace over them and feel them more, but he kept Harry's mouth shut, not wanting to alert whatever was in the tree's to their exact location; he knew all too well the death eater way of thinking – 'curse before you see'. He studied Harry's face, his eyebrows were furrowed and his eyes were scanning the darkness fervently. The boys arm was raising, his wand pointing towards the trees, Draco grabbed it and held it still, before bringing it down and letting go. He leaned in to Harry again, closer than before, his lips practically touching the boy's ear, partially because he wanted a reaction, partially because he was slightly worried about being found "Don't do anything until we're sure what's there, it may just be someone passing"

Harry looked up into Draco's eyes, sensing the boy was scared like him. Two strands were hanging over his left eye. With his free hand Harry reached up and wiped the hairs away, keeping eye contact with the blonde in front of him, it was the longest he had ever properly looked at the boy.

Both their eyes suddenly flooded with light, their heads turned fast to see two fifth year girls looking shocked at them, both wands alight with the Lumos charm.

"What are you doing out of bed so late, you are not meant to be roaming the grounds this time of night. And it is forbidden you come to the forest, you're both on detention with Snape, get to your dorms" Draco snapped angrily, his teeth gritted when he was finished, the two girls running quickly away from him and up to the castle.

He looked back at Harry, a mixture of rage and relief in his eyes.

"You're pretty scary when you're angry." The boy said quietly and with difficulty, grinning under Draco's finger.

Draco laughed at Harry's effort to talk, taking his hand from the boy's face. They both laughed, the two boys stayed close, their faces near.

The tall Slytherin boy smiled and tried not to laugh when he noticed that Harry's cheeked had flushed pink, the smaller boys heavy breathing tickled his face and he reached up, cupping Harry's chin in one hand and lifting his head slightly more than it was already raised. He studied the face in front of him inquisitively, his lips curving into a slight smile and his eyebrows moving down as if he were confused. Harry looked down, trying to avert his gaze from Draco's, but he his eyes searching once more for the soft familiar storm cloud grey that had caused him so much confusion since the start of his last year at Hogwarts.

"I'm so tired" Harry was shocked at the way he had just spoken to Draco, after the past few weeks of wanting this moment, to be so close and alone with him. The voice didn't sound like his, it sounded childish and whiney, as if he was asking Draco to do something about it. He felt the blonde's hand shake as he laughed and removed it from under Harry's head, the spot where it had been felt empty and cold on its departure.

"It's only eight thirty, if you sleep now you'll wake too early, but" Draco looked up at the castle in contemplation, "there's a warm fire and comfy seats I know that could be used for rest and relaxation"

Harry recognised a second chance when he saw one, a chance to not fuck up, an opportunity to relive the moment he had just been in with Draco, upstairs, away from the threat of being walked in on, and away from the cold damp air of the night. He nodded and Draco started to walk, motioning for Harry to follow.

--

The warm squishy comfort of the large armchair near the fire swallowed Harry, he sunk into it and stretched, he felt more awake now than he had outside.

"Thanks" Harry found his voice, accepting a butter beer off the slender boy in front of him; Draco perched on the arm of the chair and swept the hair from Harry's forehead.

"How do you feel now?" his voice was soft but Harry suspected there was more to the question, the boy was asking if Harry felt up to facing their feelings head on or not. He had to admit that he was. He just wasn't ready to think in depth about it, or discuss it. But he was ready to feel everything, to accept Draco's actions no matter what they may be.

"Much better thank you" He smiled, swigging at the bottle he had been given.

"Good" to Harry's surprise Draco stood up and walked over to the large window at the back of the room, a dreary drizzle had began to run down the panes and the moon was full and bright, perched in the middle of the midnight blue sky.

Harry turned and peered round the high back of the chair to look at the boy, he had shed himself of his long cloak and through his fitted fine wool jumper Harry could make out the toned yet slender frame. Contrasted against the night, Draco's hair seemed like liquid silver, melting to the nape of his neck. Long slender fingers interlinked behind the boys back, their pale skin seeming smooth and enticing. There was no doubt that Harry found the Slytherin to be beautiful.

--

A sharp, sudden cold awoke Harry – he opened his eyes and let them adjust to the light of the room. His head seemed fuzzy and he began to wonder where he was, only remembering when he realised the dark pattern in front of him was an up close personal view of the material of which Draco's trousers were made.

--

A/N: So, what do you guys think? I know I suck for not updating in so long


	10. Chapter 10: Content and Unaware

**A/N:** Gosh it's been so long since I last updated this, but at last here is the moment we've all been waiting for.

Chapter Ten

Harry had no idea what to do. He couldn't even think, he daren't breathe; he was rooted to the spot where he lay. The material of Draco's trousers was the only thing his eyes could reach, he could feel the soft cotton on his face and tried desperate to think about how he had gotten in the situation he was in, his heart suddenly struck with fear. Had Draco drugged him? Put a spell on him? Harry was up for games but something this weird was not giving him any sort of pleasure. He remembered getting drowsy, too comfy, and to the point where he had tried to stop himself falling asleep but could not. But he also remembered being on the chair, and now he was evidently on a bed, he could feel the cool silk sheets below him, soft against his hand. He was just about to try and move when a soft sound made him freeze.

Draco was asleep. He was stirring, his leg twitching into a new position. Harry took his chance and sat up, immediately looking at the boy.

Slytherin boy's always looked the same; they stood tall and proud and never let their guard down, no matter what was happening. However on this night Harry Potter witnessed what nobody at Hogwarts had ever seen before... not even Pansy Parkinson. The soft blonde hair fell harshly across Draco's face, hiding his charming features; his lips could just be seen: slightly parted, softly breathing and deeply relaxed in his dreaming state. The boy's collar was open wide, when it was usually so precisely folded and neat it looked like a brand new, too-stiff shirt every day. The sleeves were rolled up and the pale forearms seemed so much more elegant and long when relaxed. Harry could not help but swallow hard and study Draco, terrified but thrilled in case the boy awoke to his bewitched gaze. The white skin contrasted against the deep ebony bedding Draco was lay on, he seemed angelic in his soft and subtle beauty. Harry thought about the difference between Draco and Blaise, the Italian boy was rugged and handsome but Draco was somewhat other-worldly in his looks, if Harry had not known different he would have guessed that his ex-nemesis was a Veela, or at least part of the species.

It was a few seconds after Harry had settled into thoughtless gazing that Draco's eyelids fluttered upon suddenly, he sat bolt upright and started to apologise frantically to his companion.

"Oh lord I fell asleep. What the ruddy hell did I do that for? I knew I shouldn't have sat down, I'm sorry Harry you should have been in your dorm hours ago" The boy slowed down, breathing heavy and his eyes wide, he looked at Harry, then to the window where the stars netted their way from one side to the other. "What time is it Harry?"

The Gryffindor sat bewildered for a second and Draco's outburst of apologies, before looking down at his watch. His stomach grew sick. He had never thought to bring his invisibility cloak. "It's two am"

"Shit." Was the only replied Harry received. Draco ran his fingers through his hair in thought, his face was pink and his eyes looked weary once he got up and stepped in to the light of the fire, which had looked so warm and inviting during the evening but now against the black of the sky, seemed too harsh and bright.

Draco looked out of the window for a few seconds, resting his forehead upon the glass. "Harry, you don't by any chance want to join me for a stroll outside?"

Harry pondered for a moment; he wondered why Draco wanted to go for a walk. He also wondered if his emotions would get the better of him if he accepted the offer. Would the cover of the darkness make him feel too safe, make him let his guard down and spill his thoughts to Draco. Harry at this point in time had nothing to lose, he could not figure out his feelings towards Draco, perhaps Draco could help him do this...

"I wouldn't mind at all"

Draco seemed to relax, and a short smile spread across his lips. He walked over to the wardrobe and tossed a cape to Harry, it had a comfortable soft fur inside that made Harry want to sleep in it. "This is nice" the young Gryffindor stated, his words sounding stupid once they left his lips.

Draco and Harry kept to the remote corridors in the castle where they would not be spotted by Filch or Mrs Norris, it took them twice the time it would have if they had gone the normal route, but to be caught out of bed at this hour Harry suspected they would gain double the time in detention. Once they were outside Harry felt fully awake, he awkwardly fidgeted in Draco's cloak, walking beside the taller boy, in silence, he daren't say a word. He did not want to interrupt Draco's obviously deep thoughts. They walked a fair while to the edge of the lake, the night sky reflected in it, making it seem as though it were a mirror that – if jumped into – would lead to another world. An alternate universe where Harry could open himself, without fear, without rejection and where perhaps Draco Malfoy would turn around and say "I've been feeling exactly the same way". Harry turned off the thoughts in his head before they went much further, he had images of Draco gazing at him as he had after their detention, their faces so close together they could almost...

"Harry, I need to tell you something"

Harry jumped, guiltily he looked at Draco and waited for the blond to speak.

"I know what you're going to think, I can even take a good guess at what you're going to sa-" Draco was interrupted by Harry. The raven haired boy had decided to get his feelings out before Draco spoke another word.

"Look, Draco, I'm sorry. I understand you must be completely confused and you must think I'm some sort of moron, I never know how to act around you. I say stupid things, I do stupid things. I am stupid, only when you're around but it's nothing to do with you. Well, it is, to an extent, but more so to do with me. I don't really know what I'm saying right now, and I can't even begin to word this but..." He trailed off, he was right; he didn't know what to say. How did he tell a boy he had hated for so long that he thought he was beautiful? That he had imagined kissing him. That, in the privacy of his own bed, he had imagined even more than that. How could Harry even begin to put into words how he thought there was no beauty in the whole of Hogwarts that matched Draco's, or that when he gazed at him he was in awe, stunned and reduced to a blithering mess before him.

Draco sat by the lake, his eyes dark and looking down. He slowly took off his shoes, his socks and dipped his feet cautiously into the black water. The sudden ripples disturbed the twinned sky, the stars scattering around his ankles in uneven correlations. Once he got used to the cold he lay back, kicking his feet slightly in the water. He covered his eyes with one arm and spoke again. "I know you must not trust me, especially after before. I killed somebody. I used an unforgivable curse and I would understand if you would not want to speak to me again. But, I'd like to say this to you: I'm not a death eater, I don't have the mark, I may have the abilities of one but I don't have the heart of one. I may seem a monster now but if you took the time to know me, you'd see that I'm not what I always seem, if you understand what I mean?" He took his arm from his face and looked at Harry. "I can't ever take back everything I've ever done or said Harry, but I always try to make right what I've done wrong."

He was speechless. Draco had misunderstood completely, the fact that he knew what the rest of Voldemort's followers knew actually made Harry feel safe. He couldn't let Draco go on like this, he had to tell him. He sat down next to the boy, dipping his own feet in the lake. He flinched, it was cold and distracting but he had to go on.

"Draco, I don't think any less of you because of what you know, or because of what you nearly became. We're on the same side; if we weren't then I wouldn't be here now. I would be like Ron and I'd be stupidly ignoring your existence. I think more of you than you could ever know" Harry felt he wanted to cry, he felt all of a sudden small and stupid, he felt like the first year that Draco had teased and tormented. Unfortunately, Draco didn't quite understand, he looked up at Harry, the expression in his eyes quizzed the boy next to him, and Harry felt his eyes stinging and his cheeks burning, an uneasy anger rose up inside him and he began to wonder why he was there in the first place. As the next few words came out of his mouth he felt something hot burn down his cheeks, he looked away embarrassed, he didn't even know why he was crying. He must have looked pathetic in Draco's eyes.

"I want to be your friend Draco; I think you're great, not just great, much more than great. And sometimes I want to be something else to you. Recently, I've not seen you in the same light at all, I feel I do know a little about you and what I know I like. When I'm around you I'm scared and happy at the same time, and I think, that perhaps –One day -I want to be _more_ than your friend. And well, I guess, I would understand if that meant you didn't want to talk to me. Ever again." Harry wiped his face on his sleeve and decided to study the lake, he dared not to even glance at Draco, he felt the things he had just admitted would haunt him forever.

Draco sat up after what seemed like hours to Harry. He looked at his Gryffindor companion and opened his mouth as if to speak before closing it. He swallowed, pushed his out of his face and scratched the back of his neck. Harry's stomached flipped and he felt like he wanted to throw up on the spot, which is exactly how Draco looked. The blond seemed to regain composure before looking at Harry, he took a deep breath and gave the boy a faint smile.

"Harry," Draco looked as though he might cry, "I don't know what to say. I think, well I'm pretty sure." He sighed and looked Harry in the eye, "Well, ever since...I..." Draco was breathing hard and fumbling with his hands frantically, he looked down and then back up. "I need to think about this."

It seemed as though only a few moments had passed but a good few minutes later Harry was left wondering what had just happened. Tears flowed hot and fast down his cheek, he felt like he could not comprehend what had just happened. A restless panic took over his limbs until he threw himself onto the hard ground he was sat on; his hands covered his face as he succumbed to his own sobs. Somewhat aware of the unattractive contortions of his face, he tried to stop himself from crying for a few moments. He eventually looked up into the sky he had always found so magical and for the first time at Hogwarts, Harry felt broken and out of place. It was as if watching Draco get up and walk away had made him realise how much his feelings had grown out of his control. It was no longer a game to Harry. His emotions had taken him by surprise.

Once back in the safety of his room, Draco went over every single thing Harry had said in his head. Nobody had opened themselves to him that much, not ever. Pansy had told him she loved him; that she even wanted to marry him. But Harry had done so much more. He had told Draco how he felt around him. That meant something, something real and strong. It overwhelmed Draco. He walked over to the window where he had stood not too long ago and strained his eyes trying to see if Harry was still sat by the water edge. He felt like running out, but he didn't know what he would do when he got to Harry. The idea of being with another man never crossed Draco's mind before, and now he pictured it he was not revolted, nor did he feel uncomfortable with it. He enjoyed Harry's company. What made him think more deeply into it was that Harry had spurred every extreme out of Draco, when Harry had denied his friendship it had stung for years, and when Harry had accepted it Draco felt elated and like he had to make up for lost time before they went on different paths. Harry didn't want them to be on different paths, and the Slytherin boy wasn't too sure whether he was starting to feel the same.

When Draco climbed into bed, the sky was getting light. He felt obscurely calm, like Harry's words had awoken a long awaited serenity inside of him. He fell asleep with a small smile on his lips. Content and unaware of the reaction his companion had outside. ..

**A/N:** I seriously need reviews guys, I'm feeling guilty about leaving for so long But I think my writing skills have improved in the time I've been away.


	11. Chapter 11: The rage and the wait

Chapter Eleven

**A/N: **_Wow, thanks to everybody who reviewed, it made me so happy to see people still adding this to their story alert list, even though it's taken me sooooooo long to update. I'm pretty damn sure I'm not sleeping tonight so I'm going to try getting this next chapter up ASAP. Hope you enjoy this _

When Draco awoke he took a few moments to reflect on the night before, remembering Harry's words, him saying he wanted them to be more than friends. He turned onto his side and smiled softly to himself. His smooth silk sheets seemed comfier today than they ever had, as if his happiness had made him drowsy with contentment. He got up, his limbs restless. He was eager to start the day. He showered and brushed his teeth, stepping back in a full length mirror and adjusting his tie and robes. He felt ready to face the day; he picked up his bag and rushed out of the door, trying to disguise the smile that had hooked itself on to his lips since last night.

Blaise waited for him at the end of the corridor and babbled all the way to the great hall. They sat down in their usual place and Draco read the paper as usual, but today there was such happiness bubbling around him that Blaise nudged him and asked him about his strange actions.

"What?" Draco laughed, "There's nothing wrong with me."

"No, you're right" Blaise prodded him on the shoulder, "Something's right for once. Spill."

Draco shook his head and buried himself once more in the pages of the prophet.

He felt a burning on him, as though somebody was watching him. When he looked up, Harry had just entered the hall, his eyes dark with black rings underneath them. He looked coldly at Draco then walked over to his table, sat with his head facing down, and stayed there.

Draco assumed Harry had not seen him and continued chatting among his peers, he was light hearted which put a smile on Blaise's face. They laughed until they left the hall to go to their first lesson – Extreme Magic. Blaise and Theodore poking fun at Draco for the huge grin that lit up his features, making him seem abnormally happy, like something out of a children's cartoon.

Harry barged past Draco from behind as they walked down the corridor to their lesson. The blond watched confused as his love interest stormed down the hall without even looking back at him. Fear started to bubble in his stomach and he wondered if last night had been some sort of joke, or prank. Something to humiliate Draco that Harry was planning all along.

Harry chose the seat furthest away from Draco yet felt the cool grey eyes watching him throughout their entire lesson. It seemed to drag and his head kept falling as he tried not to fall asleep. He had gotten no sleep, lay outside by the lake until it was light and far enough into the morning for him to say he had gone for an early walk if he was found on the way back to his dorm. He was angry with himself. He had walked in and the first thing he saw at breakfast was Draco and Blaise having a good laugh, obviously at his expense by the way Draco tried to hide behind his paper. Harry felt stupid and belittled and confused. He had trusted the Slytherin boys, truly believing they had some good in them despite their past actions. Now he had to deal with the whole school knowing he was gay, or at least knowing that he was attracted to Draco. This thought nagged at him all throughout Tonks' speech on Magical Channels and he was fearful to leave the classroom when the time came for her to tell them to pack up their things and go. By the end of the hour, he had numbed himself. All his life there had been people whispering about him, The Boy Who Lived, The Chosen One, and The Undesirable. Now the Gay One. He could deal with this, he was only here so much longer then he could leave Hogwarts and the Slytherins behind. This thought struck Harry deep; he didn't want to leave the Slytherins. He wanted quite the opposite, he wanted Draco to say he felt the same and for the two of them to leave Hogwarts side by side. He felt a burning in his throat which he ignored; he wondered if this was what Draco had felt the day Harry had rejected his friendship. Maybe Draco's rejection was him making up for that.

He left the classroom swiftly, all too aware that the boy on his mind had tried to follow him. He heard his name faintly as he sped down to his next lesson. Had he looked behind he would have seen the blond boy let his guard down for a few seconds to look forlornly at the back of Harry's head. But he did not look back, nor did he speak one word to Draco all day. He went through the rest of his lessons with his defences up, ignoring everything around him, not wishing to hear the whispers of what Draco had surely spread round the castle already.

Hermione met Harry for dinner that evening, she was chirpy and excitedly explained how she had spent a free period with Blaise and that he was a completely different person when he was on his own. When she realised Harry was playing with his food and not eating it she protested, quizzing him.

"Harry for Merlin's sake, what is wrong, you've hardly touched your food!"

"Nothing" Harry mumbled. He looked up to see Malfoy walking out, his mask plastered on his face as he passed the Gryffindor table. Harry's anger got the better of him and he decided to confront the Slytherin. So many questions puddled in his mind that he had to. Was Harry not good enough for Draco? Was he seeing somebody else? Was it beneath a Malfoy to be with another man? He brushed Hermione off saying he did not feel well and exited the hall soon after the blond.

Harry opened the heavy oak door to check Draco had not gone outside, and spotted the boy heading towards the lake as he had done the previous night. Harry followed him, his anger once again taking control of his actions. Somewhere deep in the pit of his stomach he knew what he was about to do was wrong, but could not stop himself. The hurt inside him was too strong to deny.

"OI! Malfoy!" Harry's bellows reached Draco, who spun round in surprise. His eyes filled with some obscure emotion when he saw who it was calling his name.

The raven haired boy quickened his steps until he reached his destination. He squared up to Malfoy, keeping his expression from showing his sadness, instead allowing it to show all the anger and hate inside of him. "You're pathetic, you know that Malfoy?" Harry should have stopped, should have allowed the boy in front of him to speak but he did not, instead he continued.

"You think less of me because I'm attracted to you? Because I WAS attracted to you? You think you can fool me with your stupid 'I've changed' act, you may well fool Hermione but I'm not fucking falling for it. Go ahead and tell everybody what I told you last night, I don't care anymore. I don't care what anybody thinks of me, especially not you. Now I know for sure that you're not worth a moment of my time, I feel better. I feel great. I don't think I ever really believed I could be with you; it was just a stupid mistake, something I wanted to believe." Harry ran out of words and stood there for a moment, staring at Draco. Hours seemed to pass with the blond looking at him, confused.

"Harry, I wan-"

"You know what, save your breath Malfoy." The burning feeling in Harry's throat was back, he didn't know if it was because Draco wouldn't be with him, or because he didn't want to face a year of being the freak of Hogwarts. He decided to wrap his rant up and head back to the common room to confide in Hermione. "I'm done with you, just leave me alone and we'll both be fine. I think you're a coward, I think you're a disgusting type of wizard. You're a fucking Death Eater and you're not even good at that. If you were any good sort of person, you'd have joined our side and fought for what was right. But no. You just ran away, like you always do. You're just...pathetic." Before Draco could argue back, Harry turned away and headed back to the entrance hall. He was too weary to deal with Malfoy's arguments. He was overtired and wanted to get the whole ordeal out of mind and Malfoy out of sight.

The walk back to the Gryffindor common room was slow and painful, it always seemed to go fast but tonight Harry could not seem to quicken his steps. Once he got there, he shed his cloak and sat at his usual spot by the fire. Hermione was nowhere to be seen, she was either with Blaise or in her room at the tower she shared with Draco. Harry dared not go up there in case the blond had returned to his room. Instead Harry made himself comfortable, rubbing his face and temple with stress. A nagging feeling welled inside him, had he done the wrong thing? Should he have let Draco talk? Was it too late to go back? Of course it was, he called Draco a Death Eater, he could never take that back. Even if Draco forgave him, he would not forget the term Harry used so cruelly against him.

The cold wind whipped Draco, his head wildly blinding him as he watched Harry walk away. He was stunned. For a moment or two he thought he could have been dreaming. Had Harry really just said all that? The words Death Eater has shocked him beyond belief, he was unable to speak after that. As if Harry's words had cut him, or winded him. He walked at a steady pace back to the castle, his home. Trying as hard as he could to figure out why Harry was so angry, and why he felt that Draco didn't want him. Draco had certainly never said that. He felt panicked as he walked towards the oak doors, as if he was now trapped at Hogwarts, as though Harry's words had made him unwelcome in the castle. He did not want to be left on his own tonight, in his room, where he was last happy with the hope the Gryffindor boy had given him. His feet led him to the prefect's bathroom, he whispered the password and was relieved when he entered the room and found it empty. It was stunning, it smelt fresh and clean and the deep bath looked more inviting than ever. Draco started running the water. He stripped off quickly and lowered himself in, the warmth relaxing his muscles so they stopped aching as much. He swam a few lengths, the novelty of how large the bath was made him smile. He came to sit on a ledge beneath the water, near the taps. He experimented with the different flavoured oils and bubbles, settling on a peppermint and menthol flavour that cleared his airways and relaxed him.

His eyes were closed and his breathing deep, the blond could almost have fallen asleep. His mind was still blurred with confusion, he wanted to go back and interrupt Harry. To ask him why he was saying such things. Draco felt a hurt like never before, it spread from his brain to his heart. How could Harry have wanted him one minute, then want to completely ignore Draco's existent the next? It didn't make sense. Draco wished he could go back to the previous night, where Harry had confessed his feelings. If he could, he would tell Harry he'd like to give it a go. But to take it slow, of course. He had been thinking of Harry all day. He hadn't taken a liking to somebody this much, ever. He had thought himself completely disinterested in relationships and love. Some of his Slytherin peers had made their way around most of the girls in their group, and sometimes ones from other houses. Draco had been jealous; they got so much pleasure from boasting about their experiences. He had just never wanted to be involved with somebody that intimately. To share his body with somebody seemed absurd. Pansy had wanted that from Draco, but he had always declined. The way she showed little respect for her body, and for his, made him sick. She knew no boundaries with him, even in front of their friends. Draco imagined Harry would be more gentle- more discreet with him. Despite the fact that Harry had just been so cold with him, the blond Slytherin could not help but think of him, as he washed his hair and his body he slipped into his own world, thinking of nothing but emerald eyes and raven hair.

Harry felt an ache deep in his chest. He had tried to get comfy in bed but as the night wore on he felt more and more restless. What was Draco going to say when Harry had stopped talking? What was Draco feeling right now? It was late, almost midnight. He had been up too long yet he felt wide awake. Tears came and went. He had no idea what he was crying about. He hadn't even realised how much Draco meant to him. He had become somebody to spend time with, Ron was being ridiculous recently. He had Hermione but she and Blaise wanted more time together. He wanted more time with Draco. He just wanted Draco, and the tiredness that overwhelmed him made it easy for him to give into that want. He quickly pulled on his clothes, his shoes and his invisibility cloak and made his way towards the tower where he knew the head boy would be.

This walk was longer from the great hall to the Gryffindor common room, yet it went quicker. Harry's heart beat fast in his chest. He had no idea what to say. He was stood outside Draco's room; he noticed light flooding beneath the wooden door. Draco was up? Suddenly, Harry felt sure of what to do. He took off the cloak and rapped his knuckles against the wood. Then, he waited.

**A/N: **_Well, that was pretty disappointing I know! I hate it! So sad, poor Draco! Next chapter will be happier I promise ;) Please review, it helps me write I need to know what people think! Penny for your thoughts? Haha! _


	12. Chapter 12: Falling Dragon

**A/N: **_I'm actually on a roll recently! I'm really enjoying writing this fic I'd keep writing even if nobody read it! 3 _

Chapter 12

The sound of Harry's knuckles banging on Draco's door seemed too loud and he winced as it echoed slightly. It seemed as though a long while had passed before he finally heard rustling about behind the wood, and eventually heard it unlock and squeak open.

Draco looked unusual to say the least, the buttons on the shirt of his grey silk pyjamas were undone and Harry had to stop himself from staring at the boys frame. His hair was stuck up at odd angles and he was scratching the back of his head as he squinted at Harry.

"Draco, I need to talk to you badly, it's urgent." Harry's words spilled out before he had chance to think about what he wanted to say.

Draco looked concerned, he put his hand on Harry's shoulder and guided him into the black and silver room, "Harry, sit down. What's wrong? Has something happened?"

The raven haired teen wasn't quite sure how to react to that question so he decided instead that honesty was the best policy. "I just couldn't sleep. I needed to see you, to tell you I'm sorry. I didn't mean anything I said to you I was just hurt that you didn't want me, I didn't know what to do and I thought you'd spread round the castle that I'm gay. Nobodies said a word about it all day so I can only imagine you've not told anybody, now I feel bad. I thought I saw you laughing at me this morning – I could have been mistaken – I just need to know what you had to think about the other night. Why you left me there on my own just wondering what to think."

"Harry, it's okay, honestly. I'll admit it, your words did hurt. I don't like the fact you think I'm a coward and when you called me a Death Eater-"

"I'm so sorry Draco" Harry mumbled, not wanting to hear the rest. "I really wasn't thinking straight and I hadn't had much-"

The blond raised a hand to silence Harry. It was Draco's turn to talk.

"As much as I find it completely adorable for you to not know when to shut up, I need to say this. Yes you hurt me. But the other night you also gave me a happiness that I've never known before."

The Gryffindor heard the word 'adorable' and zoned out- was Draco saying that he wanted to be with Harry? Did he feel the same way as Harry did?

"Nobody has ever opened themselves up to me like that. I feel like you and I have a connection. I've felt so lonely today with you ignoring me, I realised I've never been able to leave you alone Harry. I always have to be around you, even if it was only to sneer in the past, I needed to see you. It's pathetic, I know. I can't match or better your words to me the other night, but I feel something for you Harry. I may not know what it is yet, or what the outcome might be. But I am willing to let you help me figure it out."

Harry's heart pounded in his chest and he had no idea what to say or do. He just gazed at the boy in front of him and felt his knees buckling underneath him. He made his way to a seat by Draco's fireplace and collapsed, still unable to talk.

"I know this may come as a shock Harry. I find you unbelievably charming."

Harry was in shock. He looked up at Draco, opening and closing his mouth, trying to find something to say. The blond sat at the chair across from him, smiling sweetly.

"I didn't expect anything like this" Harry felt a sting at the corner of his eyes, overwhelmed by Draco's words; he tried as hard as he could not to choke on sobs that were coming. In all his years at Hogwarts he never thought he would find somebody to make him feel the way he did now. Draco's smile had dazzled Harry for so many months. Neither Ginny, nor Cho nor any other lover he had spent time with could give him this feeling. He felt his stomach flip over and over again and he was aware of Draco stepping round the table between them and bending to Harry's level.

The Slytherin boy wiped tears from Harry's cheeks gently.

"Come on now Potter, my ability to articulate my feelings isn't really that bad, is it?" His voice was so soft, so comforting. He had never sounded like this before, like this voice was only for his companions ears, something private and precious.

A smile reached emerald eyes and they widened as Harry felt a small subtle kiss on his forehead, around the place where a lightning bolt scar lay. It wasn't sensual; it wasn't the type of kiss Harry would expect from somebody who wanted a relationship with him. It was a kiss that showed caring, an inviting kiss that was merely the start of something, possibly terrific.

Draco walked over to a desk behind Harry and from it carried a silver tea tray back. He placed it on the table and Harry took a sip from a small engraved cup, the tea was sweet and warmed him quickly. He was less shaky than before.

"How are you feeling?" Draco's eyes were narrowed as he studied Harry, he was hunched over with his hands clasped, resting on his knees. A small patch of bare skin on his chest could just be seen through the gap in his arms, pale and smooth like white silk. Harry was in some sort of dream world, his eyes set on Draco's skin, his fingers burning with want. Draco's words hit him many moments after they were spoken.

"I feel better" He managed a small smile but he was still in shock. Draco had called him adorable, and then said that he wanted Harry to help him figure out his feelings. This could only play in Harry's favour. He smiled again whilst taking a sip of his tea. Draco looked at a clock above the fire.

"You should be going back to bed if you feel better; you're up early for practice." Draco's lips curved up slightly into a smile but it was obvious he was tired.

Harry looked puzzled for a second before sighing and cursing under his breath. "Quidditch."

"Indeed. Gryffindor v Slytherin I heard" The blond laughed softly as Harry groaned. "It will be fine Harry, you know the script. We both go for the Snitch at the same time but you manage to catch it before me" It was Harry's turn to laugh. He swallowed the rest of his tea and stretched. "I should go. We've got the pitch booked first thing."

"If you need to stay I can sleep on the floor" Draco stood and headed over to a cabinet. Harry thought about it for a moment. He could stay; it would be nice to spend the night in Draco's room. He didn't really want to go back to his own bed. It was a bit soon, and he would have to make up some serious excuse as to why he didn't walk down to practice with Ron.

"Oh, it's fine. I've come prepared this time" Harry held up his cloak as Draco turned.

"Excuse me?" Draco gave him a puzzled look.

"It's the invisibility cloak my father gave me" He couldn't help but smile with pride. "Here, try it on" He tossed it across the room and the blond scanned it cautiously before wrapping it over himself and disappearing.

"Merlin's staff! I'm invisible" Draco's giggle was adorable. His footsteps were all that directed Harry to him and the Slytherin seemed to delight in this fact as he poked Harry in the ribs.

"Ouch! That hurt, you Snake! Come on play time is over now" The raven haired boy chuckled at the way Draco's hair stuck up once he'd pulled the cloak off himself.

He bid Harry goodbye with an awkward hug and the two boys made their way to bed, both thinking about the other.

It only occurred to Harry when he was halfway down the stairs that he'd forgotten to ask Draco why he thought something bad had happened, but when he turned back around the door was shut and he felt too tired to climb back up and knock.

Harry was yawning as he heard Madame Hooch's magnified voice announce that the Quidditch match had started. He sighed heavily and looked for the Snitch but found something else entirely. Grey eyes met green and the world around the Gryffindor seeker melted away as Draco grinned at him across the pitch. His heart started turning over and over in his chest and he felt giddy and full of energy, the way he usually felt when he looked at Draco's dazzling smile. He gave the air a once over, there was no sign of the tiny golden ball. He did, however, notice Draco searching for it after a dig in the ribs from one of the Slytherin beaters. The blond evidently snapped at the boy who quickly flew off whilst Draco regained composure and searched for the illusive winged foe.

Harry loved the wind that cooled him and refreshed him as he soared above the grounds; he adored Quidditch, everything about it. He flew fast, doing a couple of wide laps around the pitch before searching the skies once more. Nothing. It was never easy to the find the golden ball, and it was even harder with a winter sun blinding Harry. He wondered what he'd do for Christmas this year, he would most likely to go the burrow – regardless of whether Ron was still being an arse. His mind trailed off to what Draco would be doing. He had no family left after the war, his parents were gone. Would he simply spend the holidays with Blaise and Theodore? But where would he go? His home had been destroyed by Wormtail. Perhaps he would stay at Hogwarts? It was a beautiful place at Christmas, with the snow making it perfectly picturesque. Harry would not want to leave Hogwarts if he had a room like Draco's. Maybe Blaise would be invited to the Weasley's Christmas dinner if he was courting Hermione. Maybe then they would have to invite Draco? Harry would like that. Any moments he could share with the Slytherin were appreciated. All of this clouded Harry's mind and his eyes glazed over for many moments until a furious roar grabbed his attention.

"MALFOY. WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU PLAYING AT? GRAB IT!"

Harry's neck cracked as his head snapped to Draco. The boy had obviously been looking at him, he had a pink tinge to his face and he was desperately searching around his body for the Snitch which every member of his team, excluding him, had seen.

There it was, by his left shoulder. Harry spotted it and dived, pressing his body against the familiar contours of his broomstick. He hoped that Draco would see before he did, so he could catch the snitch and the Slytherin team members would not be too hard on him. But this particularly mischievous ball continued to move out of Draco's sight until the last moment where he fell into place, beside Harry, dashing for the speck of gold that hung in the air ahead of them. Harry's look of sheer determination shocked the blond and he sniggered as his hand outstretched with the Gryffindor Seeker's. He blocked Harry's reach and back handed the ball away from them.

"Oops" he laughed as he sped off away from a shocked boy, who shook his head and stared after Draco. The blonds' laugh suddenly mixed with a harsh and raucous chuckle from behind Harry's broom. The beater who had nudged Malfoy earlier was laughing so hard he was nearly falling and a sickening crack alerted Harry to what he found so funny. His head turned round to see a dash of green plummet through the air above him. He quickly scanned the pitch to find that it was indeed Draco's broom left unmanned, the front half snapped off by a very vicious bludger.

"Might beat some sense into him, next time he might catch the bloody thing"

Harry's anger at the boy behind him swirled and he reached inside his robes for his wand, which was not there. It was only then he realised where he really was. How high he was. How high Draco had been.

He had never done a nose tail dive as quickly as he did then, he readied his right hand and as soon as the deep green robes were in reach he grabbed at them and tugged the material towards him. Draco's hand found a small patch of Harry's broom, of which he hung on to – quite literally, for dear life.

"Thank you" The boy breathed, but before he could get another word out the bludger that had already struck him hit him square in the back and he fell once more in front of Harry's eyes, who screamed and dived once more but could only look on in horror as Draco's slight frame hit the ground with an bone shattering thump. The snitch playfully jumped into Harry's view but he batted it away and touched down next to Draco's sprawled out body.

**AN:** _Dun dun dunnn! (8) Hehe. Hope you all enjoyed! :D I will get another chapter up ASAP as the next one will be much more interesting ;D whey! Please review you all know I need them to survive Also, I've started an LJ for my illustrations - .com/ there are more to come but please look at the first couple (very old, quite bad to be honest...) and let me know what you think with a (you guessed it) REVIEW Harry and Draco want you to review, they're waiting for their big kissy scene :3 _


	13. Chapter 13: Bludgers and Teacups

**A/N: **_Well I was going to leave this fic for a couple of weeks to be honest. Its lacking in reviews etc so I was considering maybe just quitting whilst I'm ahead. But since I got two lovely reviews today, I decided to write this chapter. Dedicated to Emily and Y-C-H-300._

Chapter 13

Dumbledore was crouched over Draco, the boy knocked cold out as he hit the floor. Harry wasn't sure whether to faint or throw up as he saw the odd angle Draco's right arm was bent at. He looked instead at his headmaster who told him to find Professor Snape and take him to the hospital wing. Glad for something to do, Harry followed these instructions. But he was not satisfied. The image of Draco sprawled out imprinted in the Gryffindor boy's mind and continued to torment him until he was rushing through the door to Snape's office.

"Mr Potter, do you always have to be so rude. You might have knocked."

The young man had no patience for Snape's idle drawls today.

"It's Draco, sir. Draco Malfoy. He's been knocked off his broom. You need to get to the hospital wing this instance; I think he's hurt badly" The panic in Harry's voice made Snape's eyebrows shoot up. He strode around his desk and hurried down the corridor back up to the main hall with Harry by his side.

"Which blithering idiot nearly killed him Potter?" His tone was as serious as ever and there was a dark coldness in the potion master's eyes as he rushed to the aid of his Slytherin student.

"I'm not too sure Sir. He's one of the 7th years but I can't recall his name"

Snape's eyebrows completely disappeared. "Potter would I be right in believing that it was a Slytherin that caused Mr Malfoy to fall from his broom"

"Yes Sir. He was laughing. Saying maybe next time Draco might catch the Snitch." Harry nearly burst out laughing at Severus Snape's facial expression when he used the term 'Draco'. His eyebrows shot up so far the ceiling should have collapsed on them.

"I see. Very well then, I'm sure the headmaster will deal with this issue very severly."

Harry didn't like the tone in Snape's voice.

They arrived moments later at the entrance to the hospital wing. Harry felt a tug on the front of his robes and was pulled to one side as Snape entered the large open room.

"What?" Harry snapped and looked up to find Blaise Zabini, looking down on him with fearful blue eyes. _Hadn't they been brown the other day..._

"Me and you need words Harry. Draco told me everything, and all I can say is this." Blaise studied Harry's face for a while before exhaling exasperatedly and continuing. "Hurt him, even only once, and I will fucking kill you Potter."

"Blaise, I have no intention of hurting Draco. What would make you think I do?"

"Because we've been at this goddamn school for nearly seven years and all along you've hated him. So I don't get it. Why start fancying the pants off him now."

"It's his, his smile Blaise. I only really noticed it this year and it just drew me into him and now I can't get back out. I genuinely like him, so don't worry that I'm going to fuck him over or anything. My intentions are only good." Harry felt relieved to see Blaise smile brightly at him.

"Well, actually he's only started smiling this year really. Guess it's because he doesn't have his maniac Daddy cursing him every five minutes." Blaise give Harry a friendly clap on the shoulder and wheeled the boy into the door way of the hospital wing, where Madame Pomfrey was busy talking to Snape. Harry waved Blaise goodbye as he left, his Quidditch robes billowing behind as he walked away. He turned back round to face the Gryffindor.

"Another thing Harry, who done it? Someone from your team or ours?" The Slytherin chaser's eyebrows were furrowed as he awaited the answer.

"It was your beater, I'm not sure who."

"Dark hair or light brown?"

"Dark"

"Selven." Blaise's face contorted into something malicious. "Thank you Potter."

Harry knew he had seen the boy before, and heard his terribly wicked laugh before. It was Michael Selven. The same one who grabbed Harry on the train to Hogwarts, the one who had defended Draco, so why had he been so spiteful towards him?

Shaking his questions off, the golden boy ventured over to Draco's bedside, where there was already a variety of tokens from Honeydukes, and plenty of get well cards signed by girls Draco probably didn't even know.

"How is he?" Harry interrupted the healer and potions master, he needed to know. The way Draco was lay, so serenely, so still – he looked...well, Harry didn't want to think about that.

"He'll live Potter. You've been through worse yourself. Lots of shattered bones and internal bleeding, but he should be right as rain in a few days" Madame Pomfrey looked wary. "He's far too thin, what are you feeding them nowadays. They're all scrawny these young boys." She cast her eyes over Harry. But Draco was very very thin, painfully infact. He was more delicate than Harry could have ever imagined.

"I trust he will be perfectly well in your capable hands. I do have some lesson planning to do, but I will speak to you at dinner about his condition, thank you Poppy." Snape sauntered out, casting a final glance at Draco.

Once he was gone Harry fell into a chair next to the blonde's bed and wept. He cried with such sincerity, holding onto one of Draco's clammy hands, that he gave Madame Pomfrey quite a shock.

"Good heaven's what on earth is wrong child?" The healer of Hogwarts fussed around Harry, but he ignored her for a while whilst the choking feeling in his throat passed.

"I thought he'd gone. I really thought he'd gone" Harry was barely audible as he burrowed his face into the crook of Draco's good arm. When he came up his cheeks were red and tear streaked, his hair a mess and he was gasping for breath in between sobs.

"Well, didn't you hear, he will be well soon enough Mr Potter. Don't go upsetting yourself over nothing. I never knew you two were so close. There's been a fair few times I've had to treat both of you for Hexes you'd thrown at each other." She looked at him sternly and he looked back, emerald eyes boring in to her as if to say _'please don't tell anyone about this'._

"Hmm, very well Mr Potter, you can watch over him whilst I attend to some paperwork. If he shows any sign of waking you must let me know immediately" The caution in her words made Harry uneasy but he stayed, holding onto Draco's lifeless hand.

He looked at the boy as if for the first time. Harry noticed things he never had before, like the way his chin was slightly pointed, the way his blond lashes were long and landed light as dust on his cheeks. The way Draco's mouth was slightly pursed, as if a kiss would wake him up. If only fairy tales were true. Harry wanted the boy to open his eyes, laugh and tell Harry he was just messing around to scare him. Alas, this did not happen. He remained stationary, light silver-blond locks falling gracefully to frame his face. Harry moved one out of the way of Draco's eyes, so that if by chance they opened- he would see that he was not left alone.

The tired Gryffindor once more settled into Draco, the boy was cold but Harry found comfort in the clean smell of his skin, the smell that reminded Harry of winter mornings at Hogwarts, where the air was fresh and cool and tranquil. He found his eyes getting heavy as he drifted into a light slumber, still clutching onto his Draco...

"Harry" A nudge on the arm broke through Harry's dream of bludgers and cackling and engraved tea cups.

"Mmmf" was the only reply he gave.

"Harry, wake up. You need to eat." He looked once again into the eyes of Blaise. The _brown _eyes of Blaise. The Gryffindor opened his mouth to question the boy's strange trait but instead yawned into the Slytherin's face.

"Yeah you definitely need food, come on." Blaise stepped back to give Harry room to stand. He was stiff, he had been asleep a good four hours on Draco. He only hoped nobody but Blaise and Madame Pomfrey had seen him lay on his blond friend in such a way. Hermione stepped out from behind the Slytherin boy and embraced Harry in a bear hug. She pulled back and bashfully left a neatly wrapped bar with an emerald ribbon round it upon Draco's already overflowing bedside table. She gave Harry one more quick squeeze before guiding him down to dinner and practically force feeding him roast chicken and potatoes.

The next few days passed in a similar fashion, Harry would spend every spare minute at Draco's bedside, hoping the boys eyes would finally open. But they did not. With each passing hour he became more agitated, more foul tempered. He lacked a lot of sleep and felt physically sick all the time. His eyes were dark circles and his skin was pale, his hair tousled and brittle. He needed Draco back. After a week of nothing, he began taking walks around the lake, reminiscing about Draco's words to him. On one such occasion, he was strolling when he looked upon the Slytherin team going to practice. He singled out the back of Selven's head and rushed over to him, shoving him from behind. This was some mean feat, the beater was a lot bigger than Harry and when he turned his bared his crooked teeth in a snarling smile.

"What's wrong Potter, no Draco to protect you?" He cackled, the cackle that had haunted Harry's dreams for days now. The golden boy grabbed his wand and placed it to Michael's throat.

"Why. Why did you do it. Why try and nearly murdered a member of your own team"

He received a disgusting leer from Selven. "That's what the rat gets for turning down my sister. Thinking he's too good for anyone. Walking around as if he owns the place, he had it coming."

The rest of the team were staring at Harry and his threatening wand placement. He released his arm down and looked into Selven's eyes.

"I hope it was worth the world of shit you'll get for it, Selven." He walked away, counting three seconds before turning again and blocking the curse that flew his way. He raised his eyebrows, sure that the shocked boy would think twice before trying to do that again and walked off.

This was, however, the last straw for Blaise Zabini. With Blaise, people had three strikes then they were out. The first one had been that Selven was disgustingly annoying and irritated Blaise constantly with his disgusting humour and insufferable attempt at wit. The second, and most infuriating thing, was his attack on Draco. And the third, his attempt to get at Harry. Michael Selven crossed the line, and regretted doing so as he lay groaning in a hospital bed, acutely aware that his whole body was covered in a mixture of inexplicably acquired bee stings and nettle rashes that would not shift. Zabini had already been planning his attack but had been waiting until Draco could see it, but he was an impatient man and decided to move quickly.

After dinner, Harry bid goodbye to Blaise and Hermione. He told them he wanted to see Draco and also look upon the result of Blaise's handywork, this made the boy give him a wolfish grin.

He took his time getting to the hospital wing, hoping that if he dragged his feet there would be more chance of Draco being awake by the time he got there. He found himself nervous as he opened the door, a feeling in his gut that told him not to, but he did -and came to face Draco's empty bed, the area surrounding it wiped clean of any trace of him. Harry stepped further into the room and clutched his stomach; sure he was going to throw up promptly.

"Do not worry too much Harry, your friend is perfectly safe." A familiar and comforting voice made Harry turn around, his face ashen and tinged slightly green.

"H-he's okay?" Harry prompted.

"Yes yes, he awoke in the early hours of this morning, groggy but recovered." Dumbledore smiled at Harry as he swept over to him.

"I would, if you will, ask you to accompany me to his room; I have some things I wish to discuss with the both of you."

The walk all the way back up near the Owlry was awkward, Dumbledore seemed deep in thought and Harry knew better than to disrupt his chain of musings. Dumbledore merely turned Draco's handle and the door opened, which shocked Harry, although it would be ridiculous if the headmaster of the school needed a password to get into a room.

Draco was stood looking out of his window, he turned and beamed at Harry then grimaced when he saw Dumbledore, he sat down and looked at the floor.

"I assume you know why I am here Mr Malfoy, using an unforgivable curse in Hogwarts does not go unnoticed."

Draco remained silent.

"I asked but one thing of you when you returned, and that is that you did not show me anything of your Death eater experience. And I can only describe your actions as that of a Death eater-"

He was cut off by Draco holding out his wand. "Take it, I'm not worthy to own it if I can kill somebody that easily. But can I say-"

"As I was saying, actions of a death eater- or, those of a man with no other choice. It was evidently a hard decision for you to make Draco. And who am I to question your methods when you stopped on of Tom Riddle's most loyal followers from gaining entrance into our school?" Dumbledore's eyes twinkled as a wind of relief swept over Draco and he fell back into his chair.

"I have spoken with the Minister of Magic and both he and I believe that no punishment is needed here. But I will ask that you, Mr Potter, and you too Mr Zabini" Dumbledore turned his head to see Blaise in the doorway. "Never speak of this again, I wish no gossip of this around these halls. It will be forgotten."

"Yes sir" Draco said quietly, Harry and Blaise nodded in agreement and Dumbledore left the boys in peace, picking a peppermint pastel from Draco's desk as he walked out. "One of my favourites" he said to Blaise with a wink before exiting the Head Boy's quaters.

"Well I expected a lot more shit for you. But hey, it's okay, I've got a month of detention" Blaise's grin was as wide as it could be.

Draco and Harry looked at each other with identical puzzled faces.

"Hexed the arse off Selven, didn't I Harry" he chuckled and took out an envelope from his robes pocket. "Anyway, this came for you today mate. I don't know why it came to the Slytherin common room, Owl must have got confused. I would stay but I've a feeling I'm not really wanted here, and I need to do some, er, research. You know, Draco." He gave the blond a furtive glance and received a nod of understanding.

He smiled again, "You'll enjoy that letter." And just as quickly as he'd arrived he'd gone.

Harry turned to the Slytherin boy.

"How are you?"

"I'm great, my arm is weak but I will be fine." Draco smiled lightly and took Harry's breath away with a flash of his teeth. "I never have much luck with my wand arm; this is the one that bloody Hippogriff tore to shreds."

Harry rolled his eyes.

"Exaggeration!" he stepped closer. "I'm glad you're okay though."

Draco was leaning against the chair at this desk, looking at the boy stood close to him. "I felt better when I was told that you never left me alone. Madame Pomfrey gave me the Spanish inquisition when I finally perked up. I was pretty speechless though, you're a constant surprise for me, Potter." The last word was said so softly Harry could barely hear it, his heart was pounding; he took another step.

"Nobody wants to be left alone when they're near death"

Draco laughed, flipped the hair out of his eyes and looked into Harry's. "Now who's exaggerating?" He teased.

Harry went a lovely shade of red and Draco bit his lip before placing his hands on the Gryffindor's waist.

"Thank you, for staying with me."

"Thank you for being alive." Was the whispered reply. Harry's hands were on Draco's shoulders and he took one last look into the soft grey eyes before taking one last step.

He placed one hand under Draco's chin and tilted his face up so Harry could look down on him. A gentle touch pushed the hair out of Harry's face; then the same hand glided down to his hip, drawing him closer. "Maybe I wouldn't be if it wasn't for you" Draco said finally, before placing his arms around Harry's neck and closing the gap between them. The kiss was beautiful and warm, subtle and sweet. Draco's lips were soft and heavenly, their luxurious taste enthralled Harry and he thought his heart may stop. Slender fingers reached his hair and played with his messy locks whilst the Gryffindor's lips parted- inviting Draco's curious tongue to enter. A world of emotion slammed into the boys like a train, taking them far away from Hogwarts, from their friends and their enemies, and everything in between. Emerald and grey entwined into one fantastic, almost mystical colour; that swallowed the two young men. Embraced; casting a single shadow on the wall, illuminated by the crackling light of the fire.

Draco stood and pressed himself against Harry, loving the feel of the smaller boy in his arms. He deepened the kiss and tightened his grip, afraid that if it stopped it may never happen again. Harry tasted of peppermint, or maybe cinnamon, Draco could not tell. But he basked in the flavour of Harry's lips and tongue. They explored each other's mouths in an explosion of kisses that seemed never ending. Hours passed, maybe days, Harry and Draco only stopped to look at each other, laugh a little, before closing their eyes and burying themselves into one another once more.

When both were finally breathless, they looked into each other's eyes. Draco pressed his forehead against Harry's and brushed his thumb lightly along the boy's jaw line.

"God, Potter. My heart's going so fast I think you may have to take me back to the hospital wing" He gave Harry's smile a short, sweet kiss and pulled back to take in the Gryffindor's face.

"Get in line Malfoy – mine's about the stop any second."

Entwined together, in the warm comfort of each other's arms, they laughed quietly – contently.

**A/N:**_Sorry! It was a long one but I wanted to fit it all in You know what to do! Review review review! The lack of reviews is making me, Harry and our dear Draco very sad _


	14. Chapter 14: The Owlry

**A/N: ** _Wow, I received some truly terrific reviews for the last chapter. I'm so glad we can finally get down to business ;) This Chapter is dedicated to Moondaughter6, lil-lover16, Ada1405, vampire5596 and DokiDoki14 for the lovely reviews that made me actually want to write Thank you so muchly. _

Chapter 14

Sleep did not come easy for Draco Malfoy once Harry had left his room. The warmth of the fire and the Gryffindor's embrace had made him drowsy not fifteen minutes ago, yet now he was actually in bed, he was restless and agitated. His ears strained with want, he longed for Harry to be knocking on his door deep within the night again. He needed company. He needed something. Once he was alone he had too much time to think, and the things that had been preying on his mind for days on end would return. He needed to know how Blaise's research had gone. He needed answers and quickly, he needed to act if his fears were true. He groaned in bed, not wanting to be alone, not wanting to think of things that hurt his mind and his heart. He remembered Blaise's light-heartedness as he passed Draco the envelope, but the blond had not opened it. He walked over to his desk and picked it up, relighting the fire so he could read it.

"_Dear Master Malfoy,_

_The Ministry of Magic would like to offer its sincerest of apologies to you, the appropriation of your Manor as of recent was not an official act of ours. We hope that you accept that the Ministry's defences had been tampered with at the time and as a result your property was unfortunately damaged. We would like to regain your trust in us by having the house rebuilt and restored to its original position. Again, you have our sincere apologies,_

_M. Greenhowl,_

_Official for Magical Property Development, Protection and Damage,_

_3__rd__ Floor,_

_Ministry of Magic." _

Blaise had been right, the letter did make Draco happy. The news elated him and he sat in thought for some time, before deciding on the perfect way to celebrate the restoration of his home. He sighed heavily, it was nearly the early hours of the morning; he should definitely try and sleep. Climbing back into bed, he lay still with his eyes closed and tried to remember the feel of Harry's mouth against his, how soft and sweet it was, how warm and inviting it had been. It had made him so vulnerable yet so strong at the same time. It had ignited something in Draco that he had never felt so strongly before: Desire.

Drifting off was uneasy and agitating whilst he so dearly wanted Harry. And once in slumber Draco saw familiar faces that made him wince, hearing shrill laughs and seeing dark places that he rarely let his mind lead him back to. He tossed and turned beneath his silk sheets, seeing Harry in his dream. But this Harry was not the laughing, smiling lover he had seen before. It was Harry with fear and sadness in his eyes, a Harry that could only have been accepting one thing, death.

Harry strode into the Great Hall for breakfast with a huge grin on his face. His eyes scanned the Slytherin table and he saw a small slither of red, which happened to be Hermione waving him over frantically.

"Hey" he said, the smile not leaving his lips until he looked into Hermione's concerned eyes.

"What's wrong?" The girl in front of Harry looked as if she may cry.

She looked puzzled, "Harry, what happened last night?"

Oh, what a wonderful question. Harry blushed deep red. "Draco told you?"

"No! Were you there? I need to know what happened I'm worried about him"

The Gryffindor boy went silent, trying to figure out what Hermione was asking. She read the look on his face and continued.

"Last night Harry. Well, more like really early this morning, I woke up to this horrible scream. It was your name, it came from Draco's room. It was awful, I went and knocked on and he looked terrible. He was shaking, he looked so...I don't know. It was his eyes, they were haunted. That's the only way I can describe it"

Harry and Blaise's jaws dropped simultaneously as Hermione spoke about Draco. Harry was utterly confused, Draco had been fine last night, he stood up to go to Draco's room but Blaise motioned for him to sit down.

"Is he up there alone now?" The Slytherin boy questioned.

"Yes, I think so."

"Good. I need to talk to him about something and I've a feeling this is connected." He stood and walked from the Great Hall.

"He's acting so weird, he went away for hours last night, only came back to say goodnight. And he's limping, he's got a huge cut up his arm too but he won't tell me how he got it. And he asked me how he could get into Hogsmead without being seen." She watched the space where Blaise had left the Hall, and Harry felt her pain, felt how worried she was. He put one arm around her and smiled.

"It will be fine. They're strong. Now please let's get to charms, I'm not quite comfortable sitting at the Slytherin table without Blaise or Draco. "

Hermione cringed; she had forgotten where she was. She did not even moan at her best friend for not eating as they exited for class, getting glares from the red and gold part of the room. Evidently, they were traitors to Gryffindor.

The rest of the day dragged and lunch seemed painfully slow, neither Hermione nor Harry ate a thing; they constantly watched the doors to the hall in case their Slytherin friends walked in. By the time they went to the hall for dinner after a torturous hour of listening to Professor Binns, they were both very frail and cranky. Harry pushed sausage and mash round his plate, checking every now and then to see if the boys would appear. No such luck. Every now and then one of them would let out a sigh, but neither said a word. Just waited in misery.

Hermione heaved another great sigh, "I'm sick of waiting, I'm going to get my homework done." She had only just stood when the door opened and Draco and Blaise rushed in, both laughing and talking as if it had been a normal day.

"Hermione..." Harry said, sounding a little pained. "I think I'm seeing things"

"If you are then so am I, what on earth have they been doing, and who do they think they are just coming in as if they've been here all day!" Harry was sure she was going to tell them both off and give them detention, but she looked more relieved than she was angry. Blaise waved her over, she rolled her eyes but walked to the green side of the hall.

"She's gone mental, hasn't she?" A voice behind Harry made him jump, he looked up to see Ron's bright red hair and deep blue eyes. He looked upset and Harry motioned for him to sit down.

"I can't believe she's spending so much time with that slimy Slytherin git." Ron seemed as though he might burst into tears any moment, and Harry wondered exactly how he'd react if he knew that his male best friend had spent the previous night kissing Draco Malfoy. Who coincidently was watching Harry with a perpetual smile on his face, not really bothering to eat or listen to Hermione's rant.

"He's not so bad, he never really gave us any trouble. And at least she's not dating Crabbe or Goyle" Harry didn't want to fall out with Ron, but he liked Blaise. He thought the boy was good for Hermione, he lightened her up, he never took anything too seriously. Except Draco, of course. The Gryffindor boy remembered the stern warning he had received from Blaise the previous day. "And he's quite funny" he added, trying to justify his point.

Ron snorted. "Professor Trelawney makes me laugh at times, you don't see me jumping into bed with her. "

"Oh come on Ron, that's really not fair. She's hardly jumped into bed with him" Harry was getting slightly angry and considered going and joining Hermione. When he looked round he saw Draco grinning at him and he gave a small sweet smile in return before looking back at his best friend.

"Oh yeah? I'm supposed to believe that with his reputation am I? I'm not stupid Harry. And what the bloody hell does Malfoy look so happy for, probably finds it funny that she's seeing a snake does he?"

The golden boy blushed, he knew exactly what Draco looked so happy about. He looked down but kept talking "You need to talk to Hermione, she can't help who she likes Ron. And I'm sure you don't want to lose her as a friend."

"I've been feeling pretty lonely, what with neither of you ever being around the common room anymore. There's only so much of Neville I can take you know"

A spot of guilt panged in Harry's stomach. "Sorry Ron, I've been a bit preoccupied as of late.

The red head sighed. "It's not your fault mate, I know you have to show your face with the snakes to be polite. I'll see you back at the common room yeah? I only came here to see if Seamus was around." He clapped Harry on the back and slowly walked out of the hall, staring at Hermione who was excitedly chatting to Blaise. The raven haired boy walked over to the Slytherin table and sat down next to Draco.

"What happened to you two all day then?" He asked casually, yet secretly he was seething that Draco just abandoned him.

The blond and Blaise exchanged furtive glances before answering.

"We...were...making...party plans!" Blaise exclaimed loudly, his face lighting up. For a split second Draco allowed himself to look relieved before he smiled too.

"Yes, we were" He added. Although he seemed unsure, he turned to Harry and gave him a wide smile, he put as much effort as he could into his smile, trying to tell Harry that he had missed him, without actually saying the words. It must have worked, as Harry's hand slid over his on the bench and the boy smiled back.

"I'm throwing a Christmas ball at my manor once the Ministry has restored it. My mother used to do it every year and I thought I'd carry the tradition on. I hope you both come." Draco looked from Harry to Hermione then back again.

Harry really didn't know what to say, he thought about Ron saying he was lonely, but when he looked into the storm coloured eyes, he couldn't say no.

"I'd love to come" Harry looked to his best friend for support, but he she just laughed and blushed.

"I've already said I'll go!"

Now that Harry was going, Draco felt excited and even more nervous about the party. His Mother had always planned things down to the last detail, and he was unsure of how she got everything done in time. He only had a few weeks, but he would do his best to put on a good show for Harry.

The four left the table after Draco and Blaise had finished eating, Blaise was eating painfully slow as Draco scribbled down notes of what he needed for the ball, with the other Slytherin dictating through mouthfuls. The two Gryffindor companions shook their heads at some of the suggestions.

"_What about an ice sculptor?" _

"_No."_

"_What about an ice sculptor of me?"_

"_Definitely no."_

"_Draco, you're boring."_

"_Blaise, you're ridiculous. Hurry up I want to get back to my room!" He was more than a little impatient, never taking his eyes from his parchment- wholly afraid they may give him away. He didn't know if Hermione knew what had happened between him and Harry yet, and Blaise certainly did not know about the kissing. He blushed at the mere thought of it. _

Once they were out, Blaise offered his arm to Hermione and asked her if he could walk her back to her room. He turned to look at Draco, who had sneaked a quick gaze at Harry.

"Do you want the other arm?" The Italian boy winked. A perfect raised eyebrow was all the reply he could get.

"Well, goodnight Harry. I'll see you tomorrow." Draco smiled and extended his hand for Harry to shake. As the boy did so he caught the folded parchment that the blond was offering to him. The raven haired boy grinned and walked off in the direction of the fat lady portrait, opening the paper once he was out of sight.

"_Go and get your cloak then meet me at my room, knock four times so I know it's you._

_D. _

_P.s. God I missed you last night. Xxx "_

Harry's heart beat fast in his chest as he re-read the last line and practically ran to his dormitory.

The halls were empty by the time the emerald eyed boy was leaving the common room, luckily nobody was around to see the door open on its own. He crept through the corridors up to the Owlry, popping in and stroking Hedwig's feathers. She nipped at his finger affectionately as he gazed out of the window into the sky above. Stars clumsily covered the deep blue blanket above Hogwarts ground, Harry sighed, enjoying the cool air on his face when strong arms wrapped around him from behind.

"Planning to stay here all night, or did you actually want to see me" Draco leaned his head on Harry's shoulder as he whispered the words in his ear, sweetly kissing it after he was done.

The Gryffindor turned slightly to look at his companion and lost himself in a pool of liquid silver, so warm and inviting that he struggled to breathe. Eyes that shone brighter than any star Harry had just bored into him, turning him to jelly.

"Well...?" Draco asked, one eyebrow arched.

"Well, I like it here." His gaze flew back to the stars for a moment, "And I thought if I'd wish hard enough you'd find me" It sounded stupid once it was out, but Draco stepped close to him and smiled, shaking his head and chuckling.

"I found you" He replied, so softly. He played with a thick lock of hair behind Harry's ear before moving his hand behind the boys head and bringing their lips together. A lightning bolt hit Harry's heart and his knees went weak as Draco kissed him hard. He clung to the blond as the kiss deepened, Draco's tongue pressing against his bottom lip – asking for more. He tasted good, sweet and Harry could barely stifle the slight moan in his throat as Draco's teeth nipped his bottom lip.

He held the slender boy, running his hands up his waist and back, playing with silky strands of his hair. The two boys pulled apart, aware that if they continued somebody was bound to hear the sighs and groans of their desperate longing. Draco was breathing hard as Harry smirked at him; it was his turn to raise an eyebrow.

"I did warn you that I've missed you" The simple words turned the Gryffindor's smirk into a grin which melted Draco's heart, his kissed Harry on the forehead, "I know you like it here, but I think my room is a little less public" Harry smiled and nodded and allowed Draco to take his hand and start leading him out, only to stop him suddenly at the door way and motion for Harry to pull the cloak over them.

A soft laugh alerted them to somebody on the stairs. They strained to hear the voices.

"Let me see you tomorrow night?"

Harry heard Hermione giggle, but it sounded weird to him, unreal.

"Okay, you can see me tomorrow night. Meet me at the entrance hall after dinner?"

"Sure thing Fuzz. I just wish I didn't have to leave" Again, Hermione giggled. Harry could tell that she was nervous.

Draco pulled him slightly, obviously trying not to laugh. They stood at the bottom of the stairs watching Blaise awkwardly stand in front of Hermione, scratching the back of his head and looking at her.

"Well, goodnight I guess"

"Goodnight Blaise" She tucked a stray lock of hair out of her eyes and looked up at the boy, he looked slightly hurt. She laughed a bit "you're still here Blaise"

He laughed, then lowered his voice and stepped in "I know, seems I can't get enough of you."

Draco looked horrified as he watched his friend bend down to Hermione. She blushed as he kissed her on the cheek, but turned her head slightly, inviting him to kiss her goodnight properly.

He did so and her eyes closed, she put her arms around his neck and he played with her hair, pulling back slightly to give her a peck on the nose. He smiled, his wolfish teeth showing and Harry saw then and there – his best friend starting to fall in love with the Italian Slytherin. "I'll see you tomorrow Fuzz" he started down the stairs and only turned back to blow her a kiss before turning a corner and heading to his dorm.

"Bloody hell" She breathed before closing her door.

"That was _horrible_!" Draco exclaimed once he had Harry in the safety of his room.

Harry laughed, "It could have been worse"

"Well, yes" The blond replied. "But it could have been better! Blaise is usually more charming than that!"

Harry's brow furrowed, "Usually? Draco, please answer this truthfully. Does he have a bit of a...reputation?" He said the last word slowly, carefully.

Draco looked uneasy, he looked around before answering. "Well, Harry. He's had girls throwing themselves at him all his life. And yes he's taken advantage of that...I guess he's had a few..partners."

"I don't think Hermione would like that"

"I know. Please don't mention it to her, he really really likes her. I can tell he's serious about her and it will tear him to pieces if she rejected him for something he kind of regrets" Draco stepped forward and cupped Harry's chin in his hands. "Promise me"

How could the Gryffindor deny him anything? "I promise"

"Good." Draco bent and kissed Harry again, more gently than before. His lips moved open slowly and his tongue flicked softly against Harry's which left the smaller boy aching for more, he wanted to kiss Draco everywhere. All over the smooth white skin. He kissed down Draco's neck – making him make the most desirable sound. It made the raven haired boy more determined as he undid Draco's top button and kissed lightly along his collarbone.

"Harry" the other boy gasped.

He looked up and smiled at Draco's dreamy expression "I'm sorry, you're going to have to stop" his pale cheeks carried a slight rosy tint.

Harry chuckled and placed a gentle kiss on the hollow of Draco's throat. "Okay, if you insist." Draco nodded and Harry went to button his shirt back up, his eyes trailed to a gleam of silver, a chain that hung loosely around Draco's neck. He touched the cool metal, but continued to button up the shirt – not wanting to pry about the necklace as it was so obvious the boy wanted it hidden.

The Gryffindor was growing tired; lay in Draco's arms by the fire. He rested his head on the blond's chest and sighed. "I like it here"

"You prefer it to the Owlry?" Draco asked.

Harry laughed. "This is much better than the Owlry"

"Good." Draco paused for a moment in thought. "Harry...?"

"Mmm" was the sleepy reply.

"I have no idea what to get you for Christmas. What do you want?"

Harry opened his eyes in shock, "I don't expect any gift Draco." He grinned "Why, what do you want for Christmas?"

Draco pretended to think "Hmm, well. I think a little more of this will satisfy me good." He nuzzled Harry's ear and kissed his cheek.

The raven haired boy blushed.

"I'll surprise you" Draco said. "I feel like I don't really know you...is...is that bad?"

Harry's fingers were tangled in Draco's hair, playing with the platinum locks. "Not really, you have plenty of time to get to know me."

"That's true. Tell me something then."

Harry laughed, "like what?"

"Tell me what you want to do after this, after Hogwarts" He looked deep into Harry's eyes, hoping the answer had something to do with him.

"Well, I think a little more of this"

It was Draco's turn to laugh. "Be serious"

"I'm perfectly serious!" Harry argued, playfully flicking Draco on the nose and making him furrow his brows in an adorable fashion. "I'd like to be a professional Quidditch player." Harry blushed. "I can't think of anything I'd enjoy more"

Draco looked sceptical and pouted. "What about this?" he kissed Harry again.

"Okay...maybe this" came the muffled reply.

Their kiss melted into a laugh and they lay in silence for a while, Draco wrapping himself around his Gryffindor hero. He sub consciously stroked down the boys chest and back up again, he smiled as he realised Harry's breathing had gone heavy and his eyes had closed tightly.

He kissed Harry's scar gently and settled down once more.

**A/N: **_I know, tonnes of filler. But I did shoot in a bit of fluff at the end! Come on guys, keep the reviews coming, they make me want to write lots :D Much love again to everybody who reviewed chapter 13 _


	15. Chapter 15: Malfoy's Haven

**A/N: **_Okay guys I hope this chapter is less filler-ish for you, and a little shorter than the last two Lots of love with a Draco on top for all those who reviewed Chapter 14 :D Special thanks to – falconsecho and ZophieR!_

Chapter 15

"Merlin's beard Harry what is wrong!" Hermione exclaimed for the fourth time whilst helping the boy pack up his things.

"I don't have a thing to wear, I can't even go shopping this close to the holidays Hogsmead will be packed!" He moaned slightly and rested his head against one of the pillars of his bed.

"Oh don't be ridiculous, you have that lovely red shirt! And those dress robes you wore for the Yule ball! And what about that lovely blue lumberjack shirt? I love that shirt on you." She looked up at him, hoping she was making him feel better, he was smiling.

"Well I guess it'll really test him, if he still likes me when I dress like a pauper in his house" Harry laughed at the look on Draco's face if Harry wore what he had used to wear in his first few years at Hogwarts, the oversized hand-me-downs from Dudley Dursley. _This situation could definitely be worse, _he thought.

"Are you taking Hedwig?" Hermione looked at the empty cage next to Harry's bed.

"No, it's too much fuss, if she wants me she'll find me" He replied, folding a shirt up to put in his trunk. _Kind of like Draco last night. _His eyes had gone dreamy and Hermione noticed this.

"Haaaaarrrrryyy."

"Yes?" He blushed. She knew. She always knew everything!

"What's been going on between you and our headboy?" Harry knew he was about to get interrogated.

"Well, we've been seeing each other a fair bit..."

"Aaaaand."

"Perhaps, maybe..." Harry couldn't contain himself, he was too elated at the prospect that Draco actually wanted him, he had to tell somebody. "Well, kissing each other a fair bit too..." He tried to sound nonchalant but his voice went slightly high pitched and his face reddened. He saw Hermione's jaw had dropped and laughed.

"Merlin's beard Harry! You move fast!"

He paused for a moment in thought; he had seen Draco every night that week. Spent the night in his room, lay by the fire, sat on his comfy chairs, talking...sometimes sitting in silence and reading by the hearth. And yet they had still only gone as far as kissing.

"Not really, I only first kissed him about a week ago"

"And you never told me!" Hermione was horrified; she furrowed her brow at Harry. "Don't be keeping secrets from me!"

He laughed and blushed "Sorry, it just came as a bit of a shock when he kissed me"

The frizzy haired girl smiled to herself then looked puzzled. "Harry, how are we getting to Malfoy Manor?"

He shrugged. "Broom? I'm not sure, Draco didn't say"

"Hmm" She tucked some of Harry's socks into his trunk "Blaise said he'd meet us by the gates to Hogwarts, maybe we're apparating from there?"

Harry shrugged again and grabbed his trunk "I think I'm ready"

After a good twenty minutes of waiting in the cold, and one very awkward meeting with Ginny – Harry and Hermione were getting impatient. Harry was sat on his trunk hugging his knees and his friend was pacing up and down biting the skin around her thumb.

"Do you think we should have told her we're going to Malfoy's? Ron will probably guess who the 'friends' we're seeing are anyway" She looked overly worried and Harry merely chuckled.

"Ron's not even speaking to us properly, why would he care?"

"Because we're still his friends Harry!" Hermione would have carried on her rant if it wasn't for the humming sound above that made her look up. "Oh God, Harry...what is that?"

The raven haired boy stood up and squinted at the sky where a black rectangle was hurtling towards them. "I'm not quite sure..." He said, his hand shielding his eyes from the December sun. The shape had become extremely large within a small space of time, and Harry's seeker reactions allowed him to throw Hermione to the floor just before they were both killed by the flying object. When they got up, Blaise was waving at them and grinning.

"Never quite got used to landing it!" He shouted, struggling to be heard over the purr of the engine that belonged to the car behind him.

The Gryffindor boy walked over and examined the sleek machine. "Wow" he breathed at the shiny black vehicle, he thought that the sporty car suited Blaise to a tee. It had a luxurious shape, and an elegant silver crest lay on the bonnet, which Harry noticed was an M with a snake wrapped around it.

"Not mine." The boy said as though he had read Harry's mind. "It's Draco's...I just like flying it"

"It's beautiful" he breathed in reply.

"Well, come on, we can't hang around all day!" The doors opened and Hermione sat in back whilst Harry and Blaise put the trunks in the small boot, which took quite a bit of a struggle. Harry sat in the back with his fearful looking best friend and waited for the car to start. It drove smoothly down the road before it started to rise and Harry looked over the edge to see them ascending.

They weren't up very high when he felt Hermione squeeze his hand, he looked up and she grimaced at him.

"Are you two okay back there?" The Slytherin driver asked.

"Erm. No. God, I don't like flying" The Gryffindor girl proclaimed.

"You don't?" Blaise was looking at her in the mirror and could see that she had gone pale. She shook her head and he began the descent to the road again. "It's fine we can just drive there."

The two Gryffindor's jaws dropped as they gazed up at Malfoy Manor, a sprawling building that sat behind a garden full of little fountains, stone benches, topiary bushes and trees full of vibrantly coloured flowers. They walked up the stone path towards the mansion, leaving the trunks for the House Elves to sort out (much to Hermione's agitation.) Harry took a good look at the architecture: the white and grey large bricks of the walls and the darker slate of the roof; the wrought iron balcony borders and the arch windows behind them. He looked in awe at the delicately decorated glass that seemed to cover the whole front door – it looked as though it had been smashed to make the pattern. The silver knocker bore the same symbol as the black car and Harry realised that the M was for Malfoy. Harry himself had money, a fair bit of it left to him by his parents – but nothing like this. Draco Malfoy was insanely rich.

Once inside, the Mansion seemed more comfy, the foyer was full of old sofas and marble fireplaces with rugs on the floor and coffee tables on either side of the room. Theodore smiled and waved to them from one of the sofas where he was sat reading.

"You're back before Draco, I'm not sure what's keeping him I thought he only needed some extra glasses and cutlery."

Blaise pulled a face and replied, "Maybe he's with the house elves? Sorting out food and all that." The boy turned to Hermione and Harry.

"Are you excited for tomorrow?"

They both nodded and smiled, with a chorus of "yes" "of course".

Blaise scratched the back of his head when he had turned back to Theodore Nott. "Do you know where he went?"

"Oh yes, just down into the village I think" The mousy haired Slytherin replied.

"We should find him." Blaise walked to a small silver bell on a coffee table and gave it two taps. After several moments two house elves appeared, once they saw Blaise they grinned.

"Everything is almost ready Master Zabini! Just like you and Master Malfoy told us!" The smaller elf said.

The dark haired boy frowned "What have we told you about that" He said sternly, yet with a twinkle in his eye.

The elf wrung his hands and looked down. "Sorry...Master...Blaise."

"Hmm, that's slightly better! Good that everything is nearly prepared, but I need a favour from you two." He bent to their level and pointed at Harry and Hermione. "I want you to take these outside and see that they are very well relaxed before tomorrow, okay? Theodore and I will go and find Dray and we will be back before dinner time. Is that alright?" The two elves nodded and bowed to Blaise before grabbing the two Gryffindor's hands. Hermione looked in her element as she stared at the tiny creature dragging her through a door.

"Hermione? Are you ready?" Harry quizzed, knocking on a small wooden door as he stood shivering.

"How did they know our sizes?" Was the awe-shocked reply he received.

"They're house elves, they know everything. Now hurry up its really cold!"

"Okay okay I'm coming." The door unlocked and Hermione stepped out in a simple black swimsuit, she shivered, "it is quite cold." She looked into the sparkling blue water of the pool in front of them and dipped her toe in before grinning. "At least the water's warm"

Harry smiled back and started climbing the steps into the long pool. He noticed how his friend's body had no affect on him, yet Draco's slender frame sent him into a frenzy if he got so much as a glimpse at it. His heart would feel like it would jump out of his chest and he would restrain his fingers from reaching out. Yet here he was; he could clearly see Hermione's figure, which was something Ron would kill to see: and he felt nothing. Perhaps he had always been gay, although he had felt something for Cho Chang at one point. It was confusing, but Harry knew one thing: his feelings for Draco were not misconstrued. They were real. He daydreamed about pale silken skin and moonlit hair for a few seconds, floating in the pool, before a voice broke the silence.

"It's beautiful here. I could get used to this" Hermione was hanging onto the edge of the pool, admiring the domed crystal roof which showed the sky above. The floor was marble and white stone pillars lined the walls, intermitted by old rustic Malfoy shields.

"Maybe you'll live in a place like this if things with you and Blaise work out" The raven haired boy opened one eye to look at her, she was blushing.

"Oh come on, it's hardly that serious yet."

"Oh really? That's not what Draco told me!" He heard her splutter and laughed. "He said Blaise is quite serious about you."

There was a long pause followed by. "I hope so."

"I wonder what was going on when they both disappeared." The golden boy queried, wondering if Hermione had managed to get any information out of Blaise.

She merely sighed. "I don't think we'll ever know. Best just to forget about it."

"Yeah."

Harry swam a couple of lengths before halting next to Hermione.

"So, do you think this thing with Blaise will last?" He rested his chin on his hands.

"I hope so. But I've been talking to a couple of the Slytherin prefects, and they say I have serious competition." She looked rather sad, and worried.

"I'm sure they have nothing on you Hermione."

She smiled sweetly then turned to him raising her eyebrows. "So. Tell me everything about Draco."

Harry blushed, but started telling her how he had told Draco his feelings, and how he had been confused by the boy's reaction. She nodded sympathetically but squealed with glee when Harry described how Draco had held him by the hips and pulled him in for their first kiss. He felt his cheeks get hotter and dipped his head under the water to try and cool them off.

"Are Master Harry and Mistress Hermione ready to come out of the calming pool now?" One of the house elves popped its head round the door to the pool room.

The two friends nodded at each other and got out of the pool, following the elf into a side door that lead to a room with a surreal blue haze.

Harry coughed "It's a bit steamy in here!"

"Harry, it's meant to be like that. It's a steam room."

"Oh."

The two friends sat talking for a long time, reminiscing about their younger years at Hogwarts and laughing at tales of when they hated the man whose home they were in. Harry found a new love for dry saunas, letting the warmth dry his skin. As he walked out to get showered, he realised how the light of the pool was not just reflections, but a mystical shimmer that sparkled and he started to wonder whether it had been charmed to calm the swimmer down. He definitely felt calmer than before, all the worries of how to act at Draco's ball had gone...

"Ah! Did you enjoy Draco's haven?" Blaise called to Harry and Hermione as they entered the foyer of Draco's house once more.

"We did, very much!" Hermione said smiling at him and giving him a quick hug as he stood to talk to them.

"Goody good." He grinned and turned to wink at Theodore. "We found Draco, didn't we Theo?"

"Mhm" was the reply that came from behind a book.

"You should see this, follow me"

The two Gryffindors followed him up stairs and down a corridor until they came to a door at the bottom, he whispered two words into the wood and it creaked open. Behind it lay the most beautiful room Harry had ever seen. It was completely white, something he had not expected. It had old oak furniture and a very large window overlooking what must have been Draco's grounds. There were black and white painted landscapes on the walls of places Harry did not recognise but what must have been magical- by the look of a sparkling willow tree whose petals were falling to the bottom of the frame, Harry had always loved the way pictures could move in the Wizarding World. Through a wide archway into a second section of the room lay the most beautiful thing Harry had ever seen. Draco was lay on his bed, wearing only his fitted black jeans. Silver hair spilled over his pillow and his velvet skin almost blended with the white sheets and drapes that hung around the oak frame. He looked so peaceful, so beautiful that Harry felt almost in pain – he couldn't touch him or hold him or even kiss him right now, yet he wanted to, he wanted to so badly.

"I think you'd like this Harry" Blaise's voice pulled him away from looking at his hauntingly beautiful lover. He took the picture frame the boy was holding to him and saw the Draco that he had met seven years ago. Something jolted in him, recognition at first, but then something like sadness. The Draco that had held his hand to Harry on the train had seemed arrogant and awful, yet the one smiling up in the picture seemed so genuine and sweet, stood next to a young scrawny Blaise, both waving and holding little broomsticks. Harry smiled at the picture, noting to ask Draco if he could see more later on. He had, perhaps, been wrong about the boy...for all these years.

Blaise took them to a living room just outside Draco's, making sure to leave the door open for when he awoke.

He spoke softly just in case his best friend awoke. "So you like it here at Malfoy Manor?"

"I do" Harry replied, he loved being in the home of the boy he adored. The he looked at Blaise. "You've known him for so long. Tell me something I don't know about him."

The boy paused in thought then shook his head laughing, "He'll kill me if he knows I've told you this. But in our second year, we were shopping in Diagon Alley just before we went back to Hogwarts, there was a homeless witch selling kittens, trying to get some money. Draco's dad sneered at her and told him not to look at her, but he so wanted this little black kitten. He adored it; he cried about it and threw the biggest tantrum. He actually said he wouldn't get on the train back to school unless he got it, but he never did. He actually didn't stop banging on about it for months."

Theodore was sniggering and Hermione was biting her lip trying not to laugh, but Harry smiled. "I would never have guessed he'd feel like that about something."

"Well he did about that little kitten-"

"I thought you'd all be in here." Draco walked in, sitting on the arm of a chair next to Harry. "What were you talking about? I heard you laughing"

"Oh nothing" Blaise stuttered. "Just that time Lucius hexed that teapot and it spat in his face."

Harry raised his eyebrows, as a signal that one day the other boy would have to tell him that tale.

Draco smiled a bit then looked from Harry to Hermione "I sent an owl to the Weasleys, I know you two are close to them so I thought it might make you a bit more comfortable here if they came to the party."

Hermione grimaced, thinking about Ron's attitude (and dress robes), but nodded and thanked Draco.

"What are you both wearing?" The blond asked as though he had picked up her train of thought, but he was mainly looking at Harry.

"Well we were both just going to wear what we wore to the Yule Ball really- we've not really grown that much." He seemed nervous when he said this, as if Draco would laugh at how they could not afford things like he could.

"You're not going to wear dress robes Harry, nobody does." Blaise was looking on at him in horror; the Slytherin chaser panicked slightly and looked to see Draco looking similar. "You can borrow one of my suits, I have a few here. Just a nice black one. We'll find you a shirt."

"Oh I have a red shirt." He said, silently thanking Blaise that he didn't have to wear the uncomfortable wizard attire.

Draco raised an eyebrow and grinned. "Very Gryffindor of you. Didn't anybody tell you, you're among the Slytherins? With the way Draco was looking at him, Harry turned the same shade as his shirt. Something that was happening increasingly often recently.

"Speaking of what we're wearing. Hermione...I'd like to give you an early Christmas present... if that's okay" She looked shocked and he looked scared, but Draco gave him a small nod and before the girl could answer he walked over to a tall cupboard in the room and pulled out a black box.

She opened it, her hands shaking, and pulled back some black tissue before gasping. She held up a beautiful silk blue dress that shimmered the same as Draco's pool.

"I think it's your size, I do hope you like it. I was wondering if you'd be my date to the ball. It's the same colour as my, erm, shirt." He was scratching the back of his head, as he often did.

"It's gorgeous. I'm going to try it on."

Relief took over Blaise's face, he took her enthusiasm as a yes and sat back down.

Whilst the four boys were sat there, Harry watched the winter sun flee behind trees – silhouetted through the arched window in the room. He felt that for the first time since the war that he could relax and be himself, and be treated as an equal – not just the boy who defeated Voldemort. They all had no parents, they all had battle scars – some visible, some not. They were all connected, and all of a sudden Harry understood the song the sorting hat had sung, so very long ago, about the houses uniting.

Without warning, he reached out for Draco and pulled him onto his lap. He enveloped the blond in a tender yet hard kiss that shook him to his bones. Achingly sweet and delicious, his cravings finally fixed once his tongue found its way to the Slytherin's willing mouth. He pulled back and looked into stormy eyes. "Thank you for bringing me here, Draco."

**A/N: **_Oh God I know, Filler much! I just needed to get introduced with MM before the Christmas ball and Christmas Day and Draco's big revelation, just bear with me people! And please Review It keeps me and our babies happy! _


	16. Author's Note :

**Author's Note**

_Hello Readers _

_Just a quick note to tell you all that I will be away from for two whole weeks now :'( *cry cry*_

_I am going on holiday and shall not be back until the 19__th__ August. _

_However! Do not fear! _

_I will be writing when I'm away and will hopefully be able to update two chapters at once when I'm back._

_Just to give a teasy hint,_

_The next chapter gets pretty heated ;D _

_So please please please check back in a couple of weeks._

_If you're reading LTHYHTLY and still haven't reviewed, I'd love to hear what you think so far, it will make me happy to read reviews when I get back!_

_Stay tuned people 3 _

_Much much much love with a Drarry on top._

_~ VIKEMON._

_p.s. Love to Hate You is drawing to a close and should be over too soon I imagine :'( However, there will be oneshots of the future and also a completely new long fic to look out for when it is done :D _

_p.p.s Big ol' special mention to ZophieR! Your last review nearly had me in tears and I'm glad you enjoyed a couple of my fics __ there will definitely be a Sequel to Surprise Me Potter, just for you! _


	17. Chapter 16: The Ball

Chapter 16

A/N: Hello! I have returned! Unfortunately I didn't get much writing done on Holiday -.- I think mainly because I was trying to write Christmas scenes in the boiling sun Now I'm back in England it should be much easier ;D Thanks for all the reviews whilst I was away! It's very sad indeed that this fic is drawing to a close but I am planning a couple other lengthy fics, I just need to decide which one to start writing first: D Btw people I got into University WOO! I'm off to get a degree in Law as of September. Anywho, enjoy the chapter!

Harry disdained when it came to him getting ready for the ball, he felt scruffy no matter what he wore due to his unruly hair and awkward posture. Blaise had handed him a bright white suit, to which Harry had firmly protested to until he realised how much the other boy was howling with laughter. They settled on a plain black affair with Harry's red shirt, and a red silk handkerchief folded in his jacket pocket to match. Blaise tried in vain to style the mischievous hair, without much success.

"How do I look?" Harry asked, glancing into the mirror.

"Like a Gryffingoer." Blaise snorted, receiving nothing but a poisonous look from Harry. "I'm joking; you look good; it really suits you. Isn't Draco the lucky one?" He winked and took the blush from his companion as a hint to leave.

Harry and Hermione had spent most of the afternoon fretting about how to act at the Malfoy Ball, discussing who they may know and wondering whether or not Ron and his family would turn up. Harry felt guilty about not really wanting his other best friend there, but he knew that the Weasley boy would try and make things hard for Blaise and Hermione, which would not bode well with Draco at all.

Despite spending the afternoon in the calming friend with his Gryffindor friend, he was still incredulously nervous and scared he would make a fool of himself somehow. He poked miserably at the dark circles under his eyes, wishing he had gotten more sleep instead of yearning for Draco to be in his bed with him, instead of in his own room down the hall. Harry couldn't understand why they hadn't shared a bed yet, or why every time he ended up staying with Draco at Hogwarts, the boy had turned an armchair into a small bed for him to sleep on by the fire. The dark haired boy tried to put all of his stress out of mind before taking another swipe at his hair and tutting, decided to go and get Hermione instead.

He knocked cautiously on the door across from his own, staring longingly down the hallway to Draco's room.

"I'm almost ready!"

He smiled at Hermione's agitated tone, feeling relieved that he wasn't the only one not enjoying himself yet. Minutes later the girl bustled out- grimacing and shaking her head. She stood up in full, allowing Harry to get a better look at her. He realised instantly that Blaise had impeccable taste. The indigo dress flowed over Hermione as gracefully as water. Her skin glowed in its shimmer and her delicate frame was showed off by its fitted waist and flowing skirt. She had a silver shawl cautiously draped over her bare shoulders, which glittered in the light and matched the grips holding her hair into a neat bun and bringing soft tendrils to line her face. Surprisingly Harry noticed the high heels she wore under the dress.

"My Mum sent me them for the Yule Ball, I didn't like them then but they seem to go with this dress" she said, as if reading Harry's mind.

"You look beautiful" He replied, offering her his arm.

Harry felt his stomach churn as he approached the main hall. Blaise waited for them at the bottom of the stairs. He turned to Hermione and begged her to get rid of the bags under his eyes, with a simple spell she did so and smiled sympathetically at him.

"Calm down. It will all be fine" She patted his arm before pulling him down the few stairs to Blaise. He looked handsome in a grey suit and dark blue shirt which matched Hermione's dress.

"Nice dress!" He winked, "Suits you, Fuzz!" The tall Slytherin dug a small velvet box from his pocket and grinned "Now I can give you your second present."

She blushed then paled instantly, "What have you gotten me two?"

"Well..." He scratched the back of his head, "actually, I've got you three. I like doing things in threes. Never mind about that just open it!"

Harry gulped when he realised that he hadn't even thought about buying anybody a present, not even Draco. What could he buy for the boy who had everything? Desperate to get Blaise on his own to ask him, he urged Hermione to open the box. She revealed a beautiful necklace with a blue teardrop jewel and small diamonds around the edge. She gasped and gushed to Blaise as she let him drape it around her neck. Harry hurried them both along, not wanting to keep Draco waiting.

The blond Slytherin looked stunning. His charcoal suit and pale grey shirt flattered his slender frame and when he turned he gave Harry a heart-stopping grin.

"Well he's certainly outdone himself, hasn't he?" Blaise remarked as his best friend walked towards them.

"Yes" Harry breathed.

The dark haired Slytherin poked him, "I meant the room!" he hissed.

"Oh." Harry blushed.

The room was just as magnificent as Draco. The floor was charmed to look like ice, four grand Christmas trees adorned every corner of the hall – extravagantly decorated, the ceiling was snowing and above it the night's sky could be seen. At first Harry thought it was like the Great Hall's ceiling until he realised he was actually looking at the night's sky through the glass. The room had a magical glow that partly came from the moon shining through the ceiling but mostly came from the floating glass baubles with candles within. Harry's heart skipped a dozen beats as Draco looked into his eyes and grinned again. He felt his knees go weak and butterflies attack his innards.

"Well, will it do?" He asked the three.

"Dray it looks amazing. Food looks great." Blaise pointed to a table groaning under the weight of all the treats and drinks.

"Thanks" he nearly blushed. A house elf tugged at his trousers and bent to listen to his message. "Okay" he gulped, "first guests have arrived!"...

The party was in full swing before Harry knew it, and he was cautiously keeping Hermione calm by the food table as Blaise danced with a girl neither of them knew.

"Hermione, its fine. Look, Draco's dancing with somebody else" He nodded across the room.

"Yes" she snapped, "but he's not smiling, is he!"

She had a point. Harry grimaced at Draco and gestured for him to come over; he quickly excused himself from a Slytherin girl's company and bounded over.

"What's wrong?" He asked as soon as he saw Hermione's expression.

"Who's that dancing with Blaise?" Harry interrupted before his friend could snap again.

"Oh." Draco fidgeted, obviously not knowing what to say. "Well, erm, the thing is. He has to dance with her, she sort of guilts him into it every year..."

"How." Hermione hissed, coldly.

"Well. The thing is." He played with his hands, unsure of how to explain. "I'll say it quickly. She got him really drunk one year and they ended up sleeping together and it was both of their first times because they were rather young and she said she loved him, and she says it every year and he always turns her down and she ends up crying until he dances with her. So he always dances with her first so she doesn't cry." He blew air through his cheeks and looked at Harry for support.

"Well, that does kind of make sense." He tried to help.

Hermione still looked murderous.

"He'll try and get away from her soon," Draco looked apologetic. "I promise. And if he doesn't then I'll just make a speech so everybody has to stop dancing to listen"

She seemed to brighten at this, "Oh are you making a speech?"

"Well, yes, I might."

"You should do it before people get too merry!" Harry inputted, loving the grin his statement put on Draco's face.

When both looked back to Hermione she was frowning again.

"What?" Harry asked.

"Draco," she ignored her friend, "what was going on with you and Blaise just before you left Hogwarts, you both disappeared and Blaise came back wounded."

The blonds' eyes went wide. "I don't think this is the time or the place to be discussing that. In fact, I'd rather get Christmas behind us before we ruin the Holidays with that."

Hermione was about to argue but was interrupted by a woman barging into their conversation and clinging to Draco's arm.

"Hello Ann" he said politely.

She sniffed, "Darling, it's so nice to see you smile and laugh again. You have no idea. I and Ted, well, we were so worried about you." She stuttered, wanting to say more but she embraced him hard instead. He pulled back and smiled at her.

"I'm fine" He said with a small smile.

"It's just that you lost all that weight and were so quiet, we didn't know what we could do. And of course Mrs didn't help did she."

He shrugged and patted her arm. "I'm fine, really. Oh, these are my two special guests. Harry and Hermione"

"Yes yes I recognise them both" She beamed, and then looked back at him. "And this is the girl Blaise is so smitten with?"

"Yes it certainly is" He replied.

"Lovely. Wonderful pleasure to meet the girl to finally win him over!" She winked at Hermione and hugged Draco once more. "I'll leave you kids to it; remember if you need anything, you know where Ted and I are."

He nodded as she left.

"Sorry" he said, "Pansy's Mother."

"Really?" Harry and Hermione said simultaneously.

Draco laughed and led them to a table so they could sit more comfortably and discuss the goings on of the party, laughing at odd couples dancing and letting Draco explain who was who from Slytherin.

"I see you didn't invite Selven." Hermione smirked.

"Never would have done, even if he hadn't tried to kill me" the Slytherin smirked in reply.

"I can't believe that he did that just because you turned his sister down" Harry muttered, cautiously sipping a firewhisky.

Draco's eyebrow disappeared under his hair. "Excuse me?"

"It's really pathetic that he tried to hurt you because you didn't want to go out with his sister."

Draco Malfoy laughed until he thought his sides would split. This caused Blaise to rush across the room.

"What. Draco. What?" He shook the laughing boy by his shoulders.

"Repeat what you just said" Draco rasped at Harry.

"Selven tried to kill him because he turned his sister down?" Harry quizzed.

Blaise collapsed against his best friend, laughing just as much.

The blond calmed down first and dried his eyes.

"Well yes" he finally said, "it would be pathetic. If he actually had a sister."

"What do you mean?" Hermione asked.

"Well, I actually turned Michael down. He tried to get me on a date once." Draco wiped his eyes again and chuckled at the two Gryffindor's twin expressions of shock. He downed a firewhisky. "Well, I best get this speech over with."

Draco stopped the pianist and took over the stage, calling attention to everybody in the room. "Right. I'm going to make this quick because I've never been too good with words. This party tonight is in loving memory of my mother – the Late Narcissa Malfoy." He gulped and took a deep breath. "My Mother was the only thing to keep life within this house, and make it light when everything within it was dark – black, even. I don't really want to tip toe around this subject. Yes, I miss her so dearly, I loved her deeply and she was the most supportive person in my life. She taught me a lot. She was a loving woman and she was warm when she was in intimate company. She was everything my father was not, and I'm so ashamed that she let his own weaknesses kill her. But I know she lived happily, and she loved happily." He raised his newly refilled glass and sighed. "This is for you, Mum"

Harry clapped with everybody else and was surprised when Draco finished there and left the stage. He rejoined their table and hung his head, running the back of his hand over his eyes.

Harry felt a lump in his own throat. He had been part of the war that killed Draco's mother. He may have even done it himself. He reached out and brushed his fingertips over Draco's arms.

The blond looked up.

"Harry, do you mind if I have some time alone with you."

The Gryffindor's heart skipped. He knew Draco was going to have it out with him, accuse him of killing his mother. Harry couldn't bear it but he still replied, "Of course."

Draco led them back to Harry's room. He turned to his lover and smiled, "Go get changed into something less formal, I have something to show you."

The Gryffindor's spirits instantly rose as he realised Draco just wanted to spend time with him so he hurriedly undressed and put on the lumberjack shirt Hermione had complimented and a pair of jeans, pulling on his trainers as he hopped out of the door to find Draco already there.

He looked much different from his usual self, in a pair of fitted blue jeans, a grey zip up hoody and a pair of grey sneakers. Harry was breathless as he looked the boy up and down, as if only just seeing him for the first time. He just looked so...muggle. He looked like anybody in London town, and Harry realised that even if Draco were a muggle, he would still find him immensely attractive. He stepped forward and slid his arms around the blond boy's shoulders, bringing him closer and pressing their lips together. The Slytherin trembled with the ferocity of Harry's kiss, a slight moan releasing from the back of his throat filling Harry with need and desire. He pushed the other boy and against the wall and closed all gaps between their bodies, holding his face as he pressed his tongue gently against Draco's lower lip. He delved into the parted lips and explored Draco's delicious lips and tongue, moaning at the taste of sweet candy and firewhisky. The other boy's fingers were playing with his hair and pulling Harry close against him, running a free hand up and down his toned figure, sighing and groaning as he discovered even more areas he yearned to see more of.

Draco eventually pulled away and smirked, breathing hard with one hand pressed against Harry's chest.

"You can have more of that later Potter, but I really do have something to show you."

Harry grinned and kissed him on the nose. "Only if you promise I can have more."

"I promise" The Slytherin laughed, taking one of Harry's hands and leading him back the way they came.

The night air was cold and made Harry bitterly regret not bringing a jacket. Snow had started to fall and the ground was covered with an undisturbed white blanket of it.

"Ah. Perfect weather." Draco smiled up at the starry, snowy sky.

"You and I have different ideas of perfect" Harry said through chattering teeth.

The blond embraced him and sheltered him from the cold. "What could be more perfect than being alone with you?" he whispered.

Harry instantly felt heat flush into his face. "What is it you have to show me?" He asked, lacing his fingers through Draco's.

The blond ran through the snow around the back of the manor, dragging Harry behind. They came to a huge iron door, Draco unlocked it and opened it, and Harry screamed.

"Draco...there's a dragon in your back garden." He gulped, burrowing into the other boy.

"I know. I told you my Mother kept dragons, I don't know why you're so surprised." He was obviously disappointed by the reaction he had gotten.

"I haven't really had good experiences with dragons" Harry referred back to the Triwizard tournament.

"Nonsense" Draco pulled him closer to the dragon, who had silver and purple scales and icy eyes. It groaned and sniffed Draco's head and seemed to grin when it recognised him.

"Now, Aria, this is Harry. Say Hello nicely."

The dragon seemed to make a barking noise and her eyes widened brightly at Harry. She butted him with her snout.

"She wants you to pet her" Draco whispered.

Harry reached out for her nose and was surprise when his arm wasn't ripped off, he breathed a sigh of relief as she whimpered happily under his palm.

"Okay, great, let's get going." He pushed Harry to Aria's side.

"Where?"

"Up."

Harry was launched onto the dragon's broad back. Its head the size of his whole body looming in front of him.

"Draco, are you mad?" He gasped, trying to get off.

"No, quite sane. Don't worry, you can hold onto me." He climbed on and pulled Harry's arms around his waist. "Around the block please, Aria."

The dragon started to run and Harry squeezed his eyes shut, only opening them once more when they were moving smoothly. He looked down to see Malfoy Manor lit up from below; they were high above it now. The snow melting away after them. They soared high and Harry felt he could almost grab a star from the sky. He held his breath as they flew over the country side, looking at all the tiny lights from village houses.

"How are you feeling" Draco called over the wind.

"Incredible!" He roared, and he did. He felt free at last from every strain of life, as if he were flying without the dragon. "Draco, this is amazing, I've never felt anything like this!"

"Really?" was the yelled reply. "Funny you should say that, incidentally this is how I feel every time I so much as look at you" he scrambled round and rested his back against the Dragon's neck, lying down on it and drawing Harry against him, kissing the boy's head and murmuring, "actually, this is how I feel even when I think of you, Harry."

Harry said nothing but nuzzled close to Draco and felt tears stinging his eyes, he let them fall. Draco noticed, but chose not to ask, he merely stroked the boy's hair and held him close. In truth, Harry had never been as happy as he was in that moment. He had never felt truly wanted and needed. And he couldn't help but think he'd have had this sooner, if only he had taken Draco's hand that day on the train. It was so many years ago, and Harry had missed out on so many years of this amazing boy. He vowed not to waste a second of his time with the blond. He looked into the silver eyes and planted a soft kiss on Draco's lips.

"How are you so utterly amazing?" He asked.

"Practice" the boy murmured into his mouth.

Harry chuckled. He shivered, the air was getting too cold and the snow was falling at an alarming rate. A delicate flake landed on Draco's cheek and melted, he kissed the place it had been and looked at his companion again.

"Draco, what are we?"

"We're wizards, Potter." Came the lazy reply.

"No, what am I to you? Friend? Something else?"

Draco's eyes opened and he blushed, "Well I hoped by now you'd consider yourself, my...boyfriend?"

"I don't like to assume" Harry said plainly.

"Well you should." Draco kissed his forehead. "And we should be getting back."

"Yes. But first, I want you to show me something else."

Draco's eyebrow raised and Harry ran a finger over the delicate chain resting against the side of his neck.

"Oh" The blond said "Yes I saw you looking at it the other day" He pulled at the chain and brought it out. It was a simple necklace, a serpent with a winding tail. It was elegant, not like the fierce snakes that covered any Slytherin domain. Its eyes were closed peacefully and diamonds lined its back.

"It's beautiful" Harry breathed.

"Do you think so?" Draco asked. "I've had it as long as I can remember. Mother gave it to me as a present when I was young."

"I really do think so" Harry beamed, kissing the hand that held the chain. "I think you're beautiful too"

Draco's cheeks went a delicate shade of pink and he smiled at Harry. "Come on, let's get you inside."

The warmth of Draco's room was inviting. Harry was soaked and his clothes were stuck to him.

"Come here," Draco whispered, starting to undo the buttons on his shirt and peeling the wet material from Harry's skin. His own plain white t-shirt was stuck to him and Harry could see the toned stomach behind it.

Draco's fingers trailed over Harry's chest and neck and he bent his head, looking deep into the emerald eyes before kissing him deeply. When he eventually pulled away, breathing hard, he pushed his forehead against Harry's.

"Stay with me tonight" He pleaded softly.

A/N: Okay writer's block made this seriously difficult. I'm so tired right now and I would check it over but I just can't bring myself to so I'm just gon' upload it. If anybody sees any mistakes let me know please So so tired! Hope everybody enjoys this though review people! X

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	18. Chapter 17: The Lovers Lie

_fA/N: I am aware I suck at updating. Writer's block hurts me lots people! D: But here you go ;) a nice Christmassy chapter for y'all. _

Harry awoke to his hair being stroked and fiddled with. He snuggled deeper under the covers and turned over to see Draco's bright silver eyes beaming at him.

"Morning" the blond said with a smirk, "Sleep well?"

"No." Harry groaned. "You keep all the covers to yourself, do you know that?"

Draco gave him a peck on his forehead, "Yes, but I don't think that's going to stop you staying tonight"

It was true; Harry didn't want to spend another night on his own, ever. He had been up half of the night but it was worth it, to spend it in Draco's arms. He had been acutely disappointed with how the night grew, but he couldn't rush the other boy into anything that might damage what they had together. Plus Harry could wait, he was sure it would be worth the wait.

"I suppose I could stay tonight." He chuckled, settling his head onto Draco's shoulder.

"Good, you won't see me too much today, I have to go somewhere" He kissed Harry's mouth lightly and rubbed his nose against the other boy's.

"Where are you going?" He asked sleepily.

"It's a secret." Draco winked and pushed himself out of bed, carefully lowering Harry back on to the pillow.

The Gryffindor boy pondered why his lover hadn't asked him if he would like to go, but shrugged this off. Draco had his reasons for everything; it was just the way he was. He decided to try and get down to Diagon Alley with Hermione, in search of Christmas presents. He dismally realised he only had a few days and he had a lot of presents to buy. He sighed and followed Draco out of the comfort of his bed.

"What are you doing with your day?" The Slytherin asked, pulling on his black jeans and a soft grey jumper.

"I'm going to see if Hermione wants to get out and about for a bit" He watched Draco out of the corner of his eye to see his reaction, "you know, to see if she wants to do some Christmas shopping." A flicker of excitement flashed in the silver eyes but he didn't let on.

"Brilliant, you won't miss me too much then." He grinned and Harry's heart melted, he drew Draco to him and kissed his ear before nuzzling into the soft skin of his neck.

"No, but you can still walk me down to breakfast before you go." He grabbed Draco's hand before the other boy could protest and dragged him down to the dining hall.

Hermione and Ron were sat in a grim silence at the breakfast table. Harry let go of his lover's hand before the red head could see and start an argument.

"Ron, I never saw you arrive!" Harry hugged the boy awkwardly, bent over the table. Draco stood behind him and extended his hand to the other Gryffindor.

"Thanks for coming last night." His tone was flat, but lacked the malice it once had when he talked to Ron. "I hope you slept well."

"It was Mum's idea, and I only stayed for Hermione." His blue eyes were cold as he spoke to Draco. "I find it hard to believe that the only two people I didn't see all night were you two."

"Well" Draco stalled and looked to Harry for help.

"I don't know about Draco but I got an early night, I didn't sleep well the night before you see." Ron didn't look convince but Harry continued anyway, "if I'd known you were coming I'd have stayed at the ball!"

Ron smiled, "its fine mate. Just help me hunt that idiot Zabini and kill him later to make up for it."

"Excuse me." Draco interrupted. "That idiot you speak of is my best friend and I don't see how one dance warrants his murder."

"It wasn't just one dance." Hermione sniffled, her eyes were red and puffy and she'd hardly touched her breakfast. "He spent all night with that vile girl, with her all over him. I went to bed before I had to see any more."

The Slytherin boy stood, dumbfounded. He shook his head and frowned. "Where is he now?"

"I'm not sure" Hermione's voice was breaking.

Draco stormed in the direction of his ball room, slamming the door open. He just noticed Blaise's foot sticking out from under a tree, he tugged at it and the boy groaned.

"Oh Merlin, where am I."

"You're at my house now what the hell do you think you were playing at last night, Hermione is a great person you can't mess around with her feelings like that!" Draco's growl was enough to make Blaise focus.

"H-hermione? Where is she?" He blinked in the harsh light and squinted.

Draco's frowned deepened. "Can you see me Blaise?"

"No! You're all blurry Dray, what happened to me? Where's Hermione? Did they find us, was it-"

"No." Draco interrupted. "I think you've been drugged." He hurled the boy from the floor and pushed him out into the hall and into the dining area. "Sit down" he muttered, motioning for Ron to stay seated as well.

Blaise shakily sat on the chair and looked around the table.

"Open your mouth" The blond commanded, watching his friend do as he was told, "Now breathe" Blaise did and Draco sniffed the air. "Right. Get upstairs to bed." He snapped his fingers and two house elves took Blaise by the hand and lead him to the stairs.

"What's wrong with him?" Harry asked as everybody stared at the boys staggering form.

"Just the aftershock of a very powerful love potion," He looked at Hermione and Ron, "seems you picked a bone with the wrong person, Blaise wasn't aware of what she was doing to him."

"That bitch!" Hermione seethed.

"Calm down" Harry said, grabbing her hand, "at least you know the truth and it didn't come between you and Blaise" he stole a glance at Ron, who looked wholly miserable then decided to change the subject. "How about the three of us go into Diagon Alley today, I really need to do some Christmas shopping."

Hermione seemed to brighten at this; she nodded and stood from her sleep. "And Blaise will be okay?"

"Of course he will, he just needs to sleep it off." Draco hugged Harry and said his goodbyes before apparating to his mysterious destination.

"Slytherins," Hermione muttered under her breath, "so full of secrets." Harry had to agree with her.

"Harry, we've looked in every shop we can think of! Why don't you just get him a nice shirt, or maybe a nice quill, perhaps even a cauldron?" Ron moaned as they traipsed through the wizarding shopping district for what seemed like the thousandth time. "Why do you even have to get him anything? He's still as slimy a git as ever, I don't see why you two love him so much."

"No, he has all of those things. And we're staying at his house for Christmas of course I have to get him something" Harry gritted his teeth, trying not to hit Ron. "I bet you've got him something, haven't you Hermione?"

"Yes" She beamed, "I got him a kit of rare potions ingredients."

"Ugh why didn't I think of that." Harry groaned, yet he wanted to get Draco something so much more meaningful, something he really wanted. Then the idea struck like lightning and he almost jumped with excitement. "You know what, I think I will get him cauldron after all. You two can head back if you want, I need to get yours anyway and I don't want you seeing it."

"If you're sure" Hermione hugged him hard "don't be too late, I'll need somebody to restrain me from Blaise once he's awake."

"I'm going back home" Ron said, he gave them both a quick hug, "I'll get there by floo in the leaky cauldron. I still don't like apparating."

Harry chuckled and clapped his friend on the shoulder, "Okay, have a good Christmas and don't forget to write"

"Course I won't, you'll be getting presents and stuff from Mum anyway, you know what she's like" The rehead gave them one last smile before retreating back down the street.

"If you want me I'll be in the library when you get back, Draco told me about it, I think I'd like to see his collection" she smiled, "good luck with the cauldron Harry" and with a crack she was gone.

The Gryffindor boy was glad to be alone, he sighed and collected his thoughts. Flourish and Blotts was first on his list. The smell of the bookstore always reminded him of Madame Pince and he had to stop himself snorting as he remembered Blaise's comment about partying with her. Trailing his fingers along dusty tombs he realised that Hermione probably had all the books she needed, and there was always the possibility that she would have read whatever he bought her. He heaved a sigh and caused the assistant to bustle over.

"Anything I can do to help you?" The man asked, blinking at him from behind large spectacles.

"I'm looking for a present for a friend, but I don't know what she's read or what she hasn't so it's proving slightly difficult." The man reminded him of a bug with the way he scuttled around the store, he retrieved a deep blue book and brought it to Harry's side.

"This just came in today!" He smiled, "it's a rare edition you know, only four ever made. I doubt she's read this one."

Harry read the cover, it was another book about the History of Hogwarts. He looked at the man, intending to tell him that Hermione's knowledge of Hogwarts was already superb, but he was interrupted.

"Written by the founders themselves you know, tells tales of the battles between Hogwarts and Durmstrang, and of the secrets of each of the houses. It's a good read" He winked, "I try to get through a few chapters on my lunch break."

Harry looked at the book again and flicked through a couple of its worn pages, "you know I think she'll like this. I'll take it."

"Gift wrapped?" The buglike wizard offered.

"Yes, mine always look more like a boulder than a present when I wrap them." He browsed the front of the store as the man carefully chose a blue wrapping to go with the book's binding and tenderly wrapped it up.

The cool air was nice and refreshing as Harry ducked back into Diagon Alley, feeling slightly better with him self now he had one present sorted. He also at least had an idea for Draco's which he believed would put a stunning smile on the boy's lips.

He headed for the Quidditch shop, bustling through all the smaller boys and girls crowding round the new broomsticks and robes. He found a high quality broomstick cleaning kit, the same he had received one year, and a book on Hogwarts History of Quidditch. The two would make a good present for Blaise, whom Harry had become very fond of during his stay at Malfoy Manor. Ron was a little more difficult to buy for, Harry struggled every year to think of something new. He headed over to the Signature section and found a Bulgarian robe signed by Viktor Krum. Ron had declared his hatred for Krum after the Yule Ball – but Harry knew he still had at least five posters of the seeker. He bought it, despite the price and joined the crowds around the new broom. Harry had a perfectly good Firebolt, but this broom looked amazing. Sleek silver wood and an icy blue tail, it reminded him of Draco. The italic lettering read Arcus Storm and a sign next to it informed viewers it could be personalised with their name. Harry cautiously picked one up and made his way to the desk.

"Hello Mr Potter, not seen you in a while." The lady cheerfully wrapped the book and cleaning kit up in bright Christmas wrapping. "Oh my! These are some pricey goods, Potter. Gifts?" She handled the broom and the robe.

"The Robe is, but the brooms just an indulgence." He shrugged, he did like Quidditch a lot.

"Ah, okay Potter." With a snap of her want the writing on the broom extended to. Arcus Storm, Property of Harry James Potter.

He beamed with joy at the broom and promised to return for it once he was done shopping; the lady locked it safely behind the till and carefully passed Harry his presents.

"Now only Draco to deal with" He muttered under his breath. His nose wrinkled at the smell inside the gloomy potions shop which was dark and damp. He headed over to the Cauldrons where he found exactly the right one. It was crystal with a silver rim and handle, small intricate rune symbols engraved within the glassy surface and a matching lid. Harry stopped and considered an emerald glass cauldron for a moment, before shaking this off – Draco had to be sick of that colour by now, seeing as he was a Slytherin. The cauldron was pricey but he didn't mind, he only had one more thing to buy.

Harry paced, frustrated, up and down Diagon Alley. His eyes searching for a shop he had not been in for many, many years. When he finally found it he was delighted to see exactly what he needed for a perfect Christmas – waiting for him in the window.

When Harry had safely deposited his purchases in his room, he sought off to find Draco – to no avail. A sleepy Blaise told him the blond would be gone all day if he was shopping. At least Harry knew what he was actually up to, although he did want the man's company. He sighed, making his way to the Library and finding Hermione and Theodore waiting for him, with a small mousy hair he had never seen before.

"Harry! Come meet Amelia, Theodore's girlfriend!" She squealed, evidently delighted to have more girls in the house.

It struck Harry odd that Draco would be the one of the three to be attracted to men. He would have guessed Theodore originally. Maybe Draco was only attracted to him? Maybe not men in general? In fact, Harry couldn't think of another man he was attracted to himself. He greeted Amelia with a warm smile, noticing how she was just as shy as Theo was when he had first met Harry.

"Draco's not around yet." The dark haired boy cursed himself at the obvious statement, and at how pathetic he knew he sounded once it was voiced.

"No, he will literally be gone all day. Guy can shop for Britain." Theo tutted. "Amelia, in case you're confused, Draco and Harry here are an...item?" He shot a quizzical look at Harry once he had said it.

"Yes. I'm his boyfriend."

"Oh how lovely. I'm glad he's found someone" She had a soft, purring voice which made Harry feel more comfortable with the subject.

"Thanks." He smiled, "I've actually just been shopping for his Christmas present." Once again he began to curse himself. What could he give to Theodore and his girlfriend? He would have to mail order something. And quick too. Christmas was approaching fast.

As the sky beyond the Malfoy grounds darkened, Harry started to worry. Draco was leaving it awfully late to get home. He started to wonder if the boy was in danger. He bit his lip softly and listened to his friends talk amongst themselves until he could no longer hold his frustration and departed, feigning tiredness.

Draco's room was cold and lonely when it was void of the Slytherin boy, Harry stared at the pictures lining the walls as he drifted slowly into a pained sleep. Last night he had been warm and content in Draco's arms, tonight he was shivering in the cold air and had no idea where his lover had gone. Comforting thoughts of the boy's face greeting him in the morning finally enticed him into slumber.

A loud crack disturbed Harry, his eyes flitted open and searched the darkness for the source of the sound. Something rustled behind him and he froze, afraid to turn around and face whatever was stalking him. He lay there, trying not to breathe, hearing thuds and tuts. Draco's distinct sigh penetrated the air and the dark haired Gryffindor exhaled, instantly turning over and sitting up.

"Where on earth have you been?" It was whined more than snapped, as he had intended.

"Merlin's beard Harry! You scared me!" The clipped tone practically whipped him.

"You scared me, not coming back for hours!" Again, Harry cursed himself for sounding pathetic. Draco could handle himself, probably better than he could himself.

"Oh I'm so sorry, something took longer than expected." The blond sighed again, making Harry scramble out of bed to reach him.

"You're wet." He stated, embracing the Slytherin.

A laugh shook Draco's body, "yes, it's raining in Italy."

Harry would have asked why the boy had been to Italy, but decided instead to receive the kiss that Draco was bending to give him. It was deep and warm and satisfying, sending shivers down the dark haired boy's spine. He tasted sweet as always, of honey and cinnamon and a slight sting of coffee.

"Mm you always taste so good." Harry nuzzled Draco's silky nose.

The boy chuckled softly into the kiss. "I stopped off for a coffee on the way back. I know a place that does a lovely latte."

"You'll have to take me one time." Harry's green drunk the sight of Draco's silver gaze with intensity that made him glad of the boy's arms around him.

"I'll take you. I promise." Draco breathed.

His lips turned up into a slight smile that Harry saw on very rare occasions. It was a smile that told Harry that the blond knew exactly how he was feeling that very instant. It was a smile that only Harry could ever return, or understand. Draco's hand was stroking his waist, the touch making the boy yearn for more affection. He kissed Draco's collarbone. The feel of the bare, damp skin under his lips was electrifying, as if Harry had been hit by a train – he realised how much he wanted this boy. How much he needed him. Draco took a step closer, shrugging off the shirt he had already unbuttoned.

Within seconds Harry was pressed against his lover, feeling the hardness of his stomach and chest. Draco lightly kissed the crook of his neck, making the emerald eyed boy collapse, his knees no longer of use. Long, elegant arms became even tighter around him as Draco backed Harry across the room and pushed him lightly onto the bed. The new light the Slytherin was showing was hypnotising, his eyes steady and strong, the stormy grey fixed on every bit of Harry's flesh that was revealed- button by button. His power radiated around his moonlight skin as he devoured the Gryffindor boy with his lips, kissing along his chest, licking and teasing and biting the skin on his slender hip bones. His hands fiddled momentarily with Harry's belt buckle, he dropped it to the floor with a victorious smile, starting on the buttons of his jeans.

Harry's low gasps and moans encouraged the blonde as he tasted every inch of his skin, holding one of the brunette's hand as he pleasured him into a dreamlike state. He abruptly stopped and crawled on top of Harry, allowing his tanned hands to scramble frantically, shaking, at Draco's trousers. Clothes scattered the floor around them as the delved into the depths of the white bedding, feeding each other's lust with aching touches and kisses. The Slytherin's sighs of content were enough to plough Harry through the unknown, exploring the slender body as he had wished to on so many lonely nights at Hogwarts. Draco was giving him something he could even stimulate on his own, more than anybody had ever given him.

The Gryffindor boy succumbed to Draco's gentle pulls of suggestion, he bit his lip with the expectance of pain but found nothing but a deep yet gentle pleasure envelope him, which suddenly turned into a burning need to have the blond deep inside him, within his soul and his heart. This lapped over his whole body in physical waves, until his limbs trembled and he whimpered under the other boy. Draco was gripping Harry as his rasps of delight grew in ferocity, allowing the two boys simultaneously collapsed onto the sheets with a final howl of contentment.

Draco was lay on top of his lover, sweating and panting as Blaise burst into the room.

"Draco! Are you oka-" The other Slytherin paused as his jaw dropped, he turned and shut the door behind him without his best friend having to say a word.

Draco Malfoy looked deep into the emerald eyes which stared at him from below.

"I've never done that with anybody else." He kissed Harry's scar and stroked his cheek with gentle fingertips.

"I could tell" Harry stuttered, "I knew..."

Draco's eyes darkened to a question.

"I knew you were mine." The hoarse whisper was punctuated with a hard kiss from the blond. Draco understood what Harry meant.

"I..." the blond trailed off, his molten eyes pained, "Harry,"

"Yes, Draco?" He tried to make his voice as subtle and small as possible.

"That was the best thing anybody has ever given to me."

"And me."

Not much was said in reply, but the room echoed with memories of the hour just passed, saying everything the boys could not. They were drenched in each other's presence. As if they were one. No longer just Harry and Draco- but somewhere in between. Emerald entwined with silver.

A/N: _Okay! That was hard! I'm not really used to writing any real slash and I hope it wasn't too heavy, I tried to leave as much to the imagination as possible haha! Please review guys! You know I crave them! I'm trying to get my LJ profile a little more involved with my fanfic stories so I would love some help with that! So I thought I'd do a bit of a Q&A type thing, so any bits of the plot you want to ask something about, pop it in a reiview, or if you have any requests for fic art from a certain part of the story let me. If i get a few responses I might make a vid with the replies. Thank you ever so much for reading guys. Four more chapters left, at most *cries*. Again, review!_

_Also, special thanks to everybody who has reviewed this story or who has been keeping up with it. I love you all! _

_~ VIKEMON. Xxx _


	19. Chapter 18: Gone

_A/N: Hey guys, so I know I haven't updated in months, I've just started my Law degree and it's been so hectic. But today I bought a jumper just like I described Draco wearing when Harry first visits his room, so I decided it was a sign! So here we go!_

Christmas Eve in Malfoy Manor was filled with rushing elves, the fires crackled and the main dining table groaned under the weight of the Pre-Turkey feast. Harry watched in delight as the house filled with laughter and content. His presents were stacked high by the Christmas tree in the room the Hogwarts group resided in most nights, all save Draco's which had been left hidden behind a table in the ball room – with Harry nipping in to check on it every so often. The blond had seemed brighter than ever, yet all day he had worn the same dark expression he had worn when he had found out about the fires in the Malfoy and Zabini mansions. Harry felt a pest every time asked Draco what was wrong, but he couldn't help but think that it had something to do with him. Maybe even something to do with their love making the previous week. He questioned Blaise and was quickly brushed off with a 'perhaps he's just tired.' The two Slytherin's were caught whispering in quiet corners from time to time, making all others in the house nervous to be around them.

Hermione bustled into the sitting room with Amelia, both laden with silver trays of snowman cookies which made Harry realise he was starving as he hadn't eaten all day. His friend bit her lip as she looked at him.

"What's wrong?" He asked through a mouthful of biscuit.

"It's Draco..." She hesitated, "he needs to see you, in the office at the top of the stairs. It seems serious."

He placed the snowman back on the tray and sighed, his legs shaking as he made his way to the dark wooden door. He opened it slowly and wanted to cry when his eyes met Draco's- they were dark, with the sorrow of an eternity in them.

"Draco- what's wrong, please don't keep it from me." He rushed to the desk and grabbed a pale, clammy hand.

"I'm not going to. But please don't panic and please don't let this ruin your Christmas, I wanted tomorrow to be perfect." The pleading in his eyes made Harry promise him he would still have a perfect Christmas.

Draco pushed a battered newspaper article towards Harry. "The two boys, do you know them?"

At first glance Harry thought the two pictures were of the same person, until he realised it was twin brothers - wearing identical smirks. The date on the Daily Prophet was two years old, he shook his head. "I don't remember this." He squinted at the print but it was faded and difficult to read. Draco took the paper back.

"They set fire to their dorm at Durmstrang because they got a detention, but that's not the point." He rubbed his temple with his hands. "Their father was a death eater, on the same level as mine. I've met them a few times. Blaise went to Durmstrang just before we left for Christmas; he thinks they're still alive."

"So..." Harry felt stupid but he really didn't see the problem.

"They were both marked the night I was supposed to. They had a huge following at Durmstrang; their whole lives have been built around Voldemort. Now he's gone I think they may be trying to take his place." He looked at Harry, weary from the stress of hiding it from his lover.

"The fires...the masks. Two masks." He looked at Draco, breathless.

"It was them. Not Wormtail. He was just a decoy. I can't believe I never thought of them" He picked up a glass paper weight and hurled it at a wall, running a shaking hand through his moonlight locks.

"Draco calm down," He stood and stepped towards the shaking boy, "We'll go to Durmstrang and-"

"No." The blond growled, pulling Harry against him. "They will kill you Harry and they will not think twice about it, I cannot lose you"

"Well then what do we do Draco?" He was starting to worry for the first time since the war; he did not think he had the strength to fight anymore.

"We need to make sure they definitely weren't killed." He pulled his cloak off the chair and wrapped it around him, "We're going to the Ministry of Magic."

***

The air in London was shrill as it whipped at Harry's hands and face. He and Draco quickly bustled into the toilets leading to the Ministry, careful to keep in shadows. Once they had flushed themselves in Harry realised the magnitude of what they were about to do.

"Draco. This is madness. We could face a hearing for this." He hissed at the blond head in front of him.

The boy turned and put his finger over his lip, "You've fought Voldemort now you're scared of a security Wizard? Calm down Harry I know what I'm doing." He watched as a guard headed past them before darting into a lift, dragging Harry in with him. Draco closed his eyes and whispered something inaudible and the lift plummeted down.

"Where are we going?" Harry grabbed at the other boy's hand.

"To the morgue" Came a raspy reply.

Harry squeezed the fingers in his palm, "Draco!" He hissed, "How the hell do you know where the morgue is?"

"Long story" The blond murmured looking at the floor, "God I hate lifts. Why can't this thing hurry up?"

It was colder than the street once they stepped out of the lift; torches which were comforting in Hogwarts seemed menacing in the dark corridors the boys trembled along. They all too soon came to a room lined entirely with name plates, Draco rushed to a back wall and was thrown backwards as he approached it with his hand outstretched.

Harry rushed to his side and helped him up, "What was that?"

"There's a barrier around the Death Eaters. Probably just in case someone tries to bring them back."

"Wormtail." Harry whispered, the name sending a painful anger right through him.

"Or the Malvthorn twins." Draco muttered back, waving the shield off with his hand, "I probably should have seen this coming. We need to hurry, this is risky."

"I think I have heard of them before now I know their name. I can't think where though" Harry pondered as Draco started sliding out unmarked slabs and checking their inhabitants. "I think I overheard Karkaroff talking about them once."

Draco snorted, "Oh yes. He tutors them over the holidays. They love dear old Uncle Igor."

"How do you know all this?" Harry pressed, not yet bringing himself to inspect one of the body trays.

"Hello. I'm Lucius Malfoy's son; we've obviously not met before. Harry please help me? There's tonnes of these things!" The blond smiled apologetically as Harry cautiously pulled out a body, "my father tried to make me be friends with the twins, he thought they were better for me than Blaise, he always called him a useless joker."

"Imagine you without Blaise, you'd both fall apart. You'd be grumpy all the time and he'd have been thrown out of Hogwarts by now." Harry peered behind a sheet, "Urgh its Greyback" He choked as he shoved the man back into his slot.

"I never liked him." Draco said too matter-of-factly for Harry's comfort. "I never liked any of them to be honest." He added in thought before he choked and turned his face away from the wall.

"Draco, what?" Harry left his work and rushed to see that Draco had stumbled upon the body of Narcissa. Harry gently pulled his hands away from the slab and slid it back into place. He entwined his fingers around the boy's elegant, cold ones. "It will be okay with time, if anybody can tell you that – it's me."

Draco turned, nodding and kissed Harry's scar."I've just got to concentrate on the task at hand" he murmured, wiping his eyes on his sleeve.

"Draco, why do they keep them? Why not bury them?" he felt his throat burning as he looked at his lover's fallen face.

"They have to with these lot for security reasons, the rest are deaths which need investigating. Come on, let's try and get this done with."

Harry nodded and inspected the body he had left and looked through the rest of the caskets in an uneasy silence. "Draco we've looked through most of them, I don't think they're here," he eventually spoke.

"Me neither. Harry, have you found my father?" He quizzed in reply.

Harry opened the last drawer on his side, "He's here."

"Good. He won't be coming back any time soon then." Draco muttered under his breath and inspected the last few slots. "They're not here, and Bellatrix and Voldemort are in a volt downstairs. The Malvthorn twins won't be there." His eyes darkened.

"You're sure?" Harry asked as he did not want to go running off to Durmstrang in search of people who were in fact, dead.

"I'm sure, they are the only two there. I've seen it myself" He shrugged, "I had to identify Bellatrix."

"Right. What do we do?" Harry asked as they headed back the way they came.

"The only 'we' is me and Blaise. You stay out of this Harry. I won't see you hurt." He kissed Harry's cheek and looked him in the eyes, "I'm going to report them. We'll go to the office on the way home."

***

Harry settled round the fire with his friends, content in knowing that Draco had told the Ministry about the Durmstrang boys. He let Draco play with his hair whilst they chattered amongst themselves, full from the meal the house elves had excelled with. He shifted even closer to Draco and found himself falling asleep, all thoughts of Death Eaters completely out of mind – blissfully unaware of the furtive glances passing between the Slytherin boys in the room.

"Shall we go to bed?" The blond murmured in his ear before kissing his cheek.

Harry nodded and lifted himself from the comfy couch, stretching and yawning as he bid goodnight to his friends. He let Draco pull him up the stairs excitedly.

"Draco, bed is still going to be there if we don't run to it! You're going to pull my arm off" he chuckled.

"Of course it is," Draco spun round and let Harry crash into him; planting a quick, teasing kiss on the boy's lips. "But I've got a surprise for you"

"What kind of surprise?" Harry tried to reach for the door handle but Draco stopped him, darting at it before the Gryffindor had chance to open it.

"Listen, Harry. When we, you know – it was amazing, it was more than amazing. It was perfect. It took me by surprise, being completely out of the blue like that. So tonight I thought I'd maybe plan it a little more, I don't want you thinking I didn't love every second of what happened last time...I just thought this might be nice for you." He pushed the door open and stepped back to give Harry a good look at the room.

In the corner stood a glittering white Christmas tree and the room was filled with the same floating candles as the Hogwarts great hall. Harry felt at home wherever he saw them. The curtains were wide open and snowflakes softly fell against the starry sky. He was overwhelmed by what he was seeing, how Draco had laid pyjamas out for the both of them, and how there was a bundle of Honeydukes boxes laid out on the trunk at the foot of the bed, with a scarlet ribbon holding it all together.

"Draco this is all amazing," he choked, sitting down on the bed, "I don't even know what to say."

The blond took his hand, "you don't have to say a thing, Harry." His elegant fingers removed Harry's glasses and started to unbutton his shirt.

The two boy's undressed each other with aching tenderness, exploring one and other's skin with less rushed ferocity than the last time they made love. The need to connect with Harry again took over Draco, he held the Gryffindor as close as he could, playing with his dark hair and kissing him hard, pushing him into the piled up pillows as he caressed his Quidditch toned body with his lips and hands and tongue. The Gryffindor gripped Draco's shoulders firmly as his breath quickened and his heart started to pound in his chest, there was something about the tender moments with Draco that made him feel as if he had never truly been alive before.

***

The two boys lay, entwined in a dream like state. They were still caressing each other lightly as they started to drift off into sleep. It was here that harry realised he rarely saw Draco relax; the boy next to him was watching him with delightful intent, although his eyes not quite focused on anything in particular. A smile curved slightly on his lips and a pink tinge crept into his cheeks which Harry had to bend to kiss. He brushed some of Draco's hair out of his face and moved so he could look deep into the molten silver eyes that regarded him so lovingly.

"Draco?" He whispered, making the grey orbs finally focus on his own emerald eyes.

"Yes Harry." The reply came with the familiar Malfoy smirk.

"Have you ever been attracted to any other men?" Harry kissed the other boy's nose, where it flicked subtly at the end. It was a feature that used to make Draco look stuck up, but once it had been studied properly, Harry found that he loved it. He loved to feel the pale, velvet skin on his lips – no matter what part of Draco's body it adorned.

"No" The blond seemed to contemplate this further, "I don't think I've ever even been attracted to anyone before if I'm honest" he linked his elegant fingers in between Harry's.

"Nobody at all?" Come to think of it, Harry had never reacted to anybody like Draco. Even when they were enemies, he tried his best to be perfect around the boy; he always got so heated and passionate when Draco was around because the Slytherin challenged everything about Harry. He was Harry's equal, the only person to make him feel like he was just Harry, not Harry Potter the boy who lived, or the chosen one, or the hero. In the same way he never treated Draco as the Death Eater, or the rich boy, or the villain, he was always just Draco, the only constant in Harry's life.

"Nobody." The head boy looked at Harry's chest where he was idly drawing patterns with his fingertip.

"I've never felt the way I do now." Harry confessed, holding the blond closer to him.

"Does this...for you...just make you feel...right?" Draco hesitated with the last word, but willed himself to look Harry in the eye as he did so.

"It feels like I shouldn't ever be anywhere but here. Ever again. As stupid as that sounds" The Gryffindor boy's mouth had gone try and colour flooded into his cheeks.

"I feel the same." The blond touched his nose to Harry's, green and grey blurred into one as the boy's smiled at each other.

"I wonder why." Harry whispered, rubbing the tip of his nose against Draco's and placing his hand on the back of the other boy's neck.

"Well, I do believe...there's a slight possibility," Draco kissed him hard, "that I may just be in love with you, Potter."

Harry mimicked the smirk on his lover's face before kissing him back, "And there's a good chance that I might be in love with you too, Malfoy."

"Whatever will we do" Draco drawled, kissing along Harry's jaw.

"I can think of one thing." The Gryffindor pulled the silk sheets over the lover's heads.

***

Draco jerked from his slumber, hearing a crash downstairs that made his heart jump. He quickly pulled on his jeans and grabbed his wand.

"Wait there." Harry growled. "Don't go alone."

"You're right," the blonde turned to look at Harry, unable to see him properly in the dark.

As soon as the door creaked open Blaise was by the two boy's sides, accompanied by the rest of the household.

"Dray, it's them. I know it is. We should just go." He hissed, grabbing the blond and trying to drag him out of reach of the stairs.

"I will not let them destroy my home again, Blaise. This ends tonight." His voice was cruel and cold.

"We don't know what they have learnt, Dray!" the dark haired Slytherin pleaded.

"What more can they have practiced? We learnt the unforgivables I highly doubt they took a summer class!" The snarl he made as he walked down the stairs was almost inhumane.

The group followed Draco into the lounge area where they had enjoyed each other's company mere hours before, the furniture was overturned and the twins were stood by the fire sniggering between them.

"Oh good," one started, "you're awake. I see you're having a sleepover."

"I wonder where our invite was, Marv." The other finished, "must have been some misguided owl, eh, Dray?" his smile was sinister, his mouth seeming too large for his face.

Both the boys were painfully thin and didn't look much of a challenge to Harry, but he had learned not to underestimate Death Eaters.

"Oh yes Tom, we're good friends with our Draco – he wouldn't betray us, would he? He wouldn't be such a filthy fucking traitor. Would you now, Dray?" their identical grins were manic as they looked upon the blond with hungry eyes.

The look on Draco's face warned Harry that he was about to get uncontrollably angry.

"Get out of my house." He snarled, barely audible.

"This is Lucius' house, and you betrayed him right to his death. You're hardly worthy to even die here, but I will make an exception since I'd rather your friends see your misery." Tom cackled.

"Oh look Tom, he's brought Potter for us to-"

"IF YOU DARE." The roar from the blond startled the rest of the room, "I WILL KILL YOU WHERE YOU STAND. I WON'T EVEN LET YOU HAVE THE LUXURY OF AZKABAN." He pointed hand at Marv's throat, the green tinge starting to throb at his fingertips as he snarled and spat at the boy in front of him.

Marv laughed and disappeared, reappearing next to Draco, putting his hand on the other boy's shoulder. "Come on Malfoy, we're your old friends." He pushed slightly and Draco was hurled across the room, hitting the wall and collapsing onto the floor, his face bloodied as he shakily pulled himself back up.

He wiped the blood from his lips and smirked, his silver eyes turning into a storm. He laughed, "You don't know what you're up against, do you?"

Another flick of Marv's hand and the blond's slender frame was slammed against the marble fireplace. "Enlighten me" he sang as he watched the boy's pale hair turn red.

"Stop it." Harry growled, unable to control himself. Not willing to see anybody else die for him. He ran to stand in front of Draco, his wand outstretched.

"Oh Marv, you touched a nerve."

Wicked laughter haunted Harry as his eyes moved to find where Tom was stood. His scar burned as he felt the boy penetrating his thoughts, trying to clear his mind whilst his stomach clench and he had to stop himself from falling over.

"Oh Malfoy, you've gone and found love. How touching." The boy's eyes flashed dangerously, he pretended to wipe a tear from one. "Even better!" he turned and smiled at the rest of the group before turning on Harry, "CRUCIO!"

Pain burned through him as he fell to his knees, reaching out to grab Draco's hand.

But the blond was already up, his hand outstretched as he hissed the spell which lacerated through Tom's clothes and left him bleeding out, breathless against the wall. The Slytherin laughed cold heartedly and turned to Marv. "Any more? Or will you be leaving now?" he smirked.

"You think that's funny, do you Malfoy?" He squared up to Draco, almost nose to nose with the boy. "Laugh this off." He pushed the taller boy out of the way and pointed his wand, "Avada Kedavra"

As the green light flashed the young Malfoy threw himself across the room, his shins hitting a small table without him noticing as he ran to Harry.

"NO!" The Gryffindor howled as he felt a dead weight hit him.

His lover sprawled lifeless across him.

Gone.

_AN: _Okay guys, that was it for this chapter, 3 more to go at most. Please please review, and let me know what you think. If you have any questions stick them in a review, as I said in the last chapter, if there are enough questions relating to the plot or any of my Drarry ongoings, I'll make a video for my lj. Hope you enjoyed! Much love - Viki x


	20. Chapter 19: The Wolf

Chapter 19

The faint tink of a bell sounded as the contents of the table hit the floor, and the left wall of the room collapsed, leaving in its wake the Dragon, Aria. She sniffed the air and her eyes found Draco, lay lifeless. She roared and spun around the room before she found the twins, the air seemed to fill with an odd purple smoke which made Harry choke, he held Draco closer as he sat crying into the blood stained locks.

"Harry!" he heard Blaise yelp, "We need to get out! Now!"

"I'm not leaving him. He can't be gone." He heard himself sob.

"Harry let go, please!" Hermione pleaded.

He had no choice, strong arms pulled him from the floor and he was dragged out of the front door, screaming and kicking.

He sat, helplessly crying on Draco's lawn. Watching smoke billow out from the window of the room where his lover lay alone.

'_Does this...for you...just make you feel...right' _Draco's words from the hours previous rang in his head, hurting his heart as he desperately tried to breathe. He tried to remain calm but he felt energy building up inside him. His life with Draco flashed before his eyes: the years of hatred, the first time he talked to Draco, the feelings he had resented having for the boy, their first kiss, the first night he stayed in Draco's arms, all of this had happened so fast and yet he had fallen so hard for the other boy. Now he was lost to Harry, and they would never kiss again, he would never run his hands through the platinum hair he loved to touch so much, he would never see the infuriatingly beautiful smirk – not even one more time. He wished with everything within him that he could say goodbye.

He had to do it, before the others pulled him away from Draco. He forced himself up and sprinted towards the house, past the retreating dragon and into the living area. It was a wreck, nothing was the same and what was worse is that Draco had gone. The twins had gone. Everything that Harry had ever wanted in the world had gone, and the people who had caused him this much pain, were not there for him to punish. He stood facing the ruined room until the others caught up with him.

"Where's Draco?" Blaise stuttered; his own face tear stained.

"I-I don't know" the Gryffindor boy replied, exiting the room as fast as he could.

He found his way into the bedroom, where the covers were still a mess from where they had lay down together as lovers. Draco's shirt was still on the floor and Harry felt some sort of calm wash over him as he pulled it on. He collapsed onto the white silk sheets and inhaled the familiar scent of fresh snow that seemed to cling to Draco's skin. His face crumpled in what he imagined was an unattractive manner as he recalled what he had confessed to Draco not even a day ago. He loved him. Harry had never told anybody he loved them before, but it had felt so right with Draco.

The remaining hours of the night seemed to drag, trapping Harry within the memories of Draco's blood stained, unmoving body. It suffocated him as he choked back tears he was sick of releasing. He wanted to be strong, to handle it all, but that was impossible. Another person had died defending him. This time, it was somebody who had meant the world to Harry. He opened the curtains and the window, allowing the winter breeze to numb his senses and letting the star ridden sky to envelope him, lulling him into a much needed sleep.

***

Harry avoided everybody throughout Christmas day, wandering around the rooms in Malfoy Manor which he had never been shown before. The corridors were lined with grand paintings, and a few of the doors were locked – reminding Harry that this was once the house of Lucius Malfoy, and that he would probably not want to see what was behind such doors. He stumbled into a private study to find Blaise sobbing.

"Sit down, Harry" he mumbled.

Harry did as he was told and glanced at what Blaise was crouched over- an old photo of the two Slytherin boys, grinning at each other.

"We made a pact, you know," the Italian boy wiped his eyes, "we told each other no matter what we did in life, we'd do together. We kept that pact Harry. We were both sorted into Slytherin. We were in the Quidditch team together. We joined Voldemort together, we left Voldemort together. I always thought we'd die together if I'm honest..."

"Stop. Please." Harry murmured, his own throat burning. He willed himself not to break down.

"I'm sorry," Blaise put his hand over Harry's comfortingly, "I didn't think."

"He told me he loved me." Harry had no idea what he was doing but he needed to tell somebody, he needed somebody to understand what he was going through.

"He told me he loved you too." The two boys sat in silence, both absorbing the overwhelming facts.

Draco and Harry had fallen in love. Draco was now dead. Harry would never see him again.

"Where did he go, Blaise?"

"I don't know, if I did I'd bring him back. I'm just glad those two spiteful little cunts are dead." He snarled, tipping his head down as he blinked more tears away.

"But at what cost?"

"At what cost?" The dark haired Slytherin repeated, miserably.

"I need to attend to something," Harry stood, "are you okay?"

Blaise nodded silently, still staring at the photograph.

Harry spent the rest of his Christmas afternoon sat in the ball room, hiding behind a tree. He was trying to create Draco's presence around himself. He wanted to at least keep one part of the boy alive. Something Harry could cling on to. Well, he at least had something.

Snow drifted from the darkening sky, making the area surrounding the Manor look more peaceful – as if there had been no tragedy there. The boy who lived grabbed a cloak and wandered out into the gardens, aimlessly walking through the quickly thickening snow. He lost himself in the endless white, only interrupted by the edge of the forest that ran along the back of the manor, turning his vision black.

He kept going, regardless as to whether he could see where he was walking or not. He walked until his thighs ached and he had forgotten who he was. A euphoric feeling had taken over him, as if he was watching himself. He also got the feeling that something else was watching him. He sat in a clearing, his arms wrapped around his knees.

A twig snapped and alerted him, he searched the surrounding trees for clues but trying to see in the darkness was futile.

A growl followed the sound of foot falls. He turned and ducked just a large pair of fangs scraped his chin. He looked into the cold eyes of a wolf and quickly assessed which way he should go – not knowing what would lead him further into the forest or out of it. He started running, the creature snarling at him, ripping the cloak from his shoulders. It howled as he tripped and bared over him once more – its jaws snapping.

Harry found his wand with numb fingers, quickly jabbing it at the animal above him whilst squeezing his eyes shut. A whimper told him to get up. His heart pounded and he dizzied as he saw the white at the edge of the forest. Only slowing when he could see the steps of the manor, Harry panted and collapsed onto a stone bench. Rubbing cold sweat from his forehead as he tried to figure out how he had even gotten himself into that kind of position. His head pounded and he slid onto the ground, the world blackening around him.

***

A blurred vision of Hermione met Harry once he had awoken, her concerned face coming into focus when she placed his glasses on his head.

"What happened?" he groaned, a pain shooting through his entire body as he tried to move.

"That's what we'd like to know." The soft voice of Amelia questioned.

Harry saw the bloodied mess that was his right leg and winced.

"The wolf..." he pondered aloud. He hadn't even noticed he'd been bitten.

"Werewolf?" Hermione squealed.

"No." He replied curtly, annoyed that his chain of thought had been broken. "A normal wolf. It must have bitten me when it chased me. It took my cloak; then I must have fainted."

"What did the wolf look like?" Blaise grabbed Harry's shoulder.

"A wolf...strangely enough." He replied, shrugging.

"What colour was its fur Harry?"

The boy could not recall. He shrugged again and Blaise stormed out of the room.

"Ignore him, he's still hurting." Hermione smoothed Harry's hair down.

"So am I." He defensively noted to his friend.

"I know Harry, I'm sorry. We're all trying our best...to find him."

Harry nodded, turning away from the two girls. Wanting to sleep and forget.

The wolf haunted Harry's dreams, snarling at him until he awoke -clutching his leg and panting. Its eyes seemed to follow him everywhere. As though it could see his soul, smell his pain and reach into his heart to torture it. It tormented him – made him restless with its persistent gaze.

He took off for the forest once more.

***

The clearing was soaked with moonlight, the fresh snow glittering under it. If Harry had not known about the wolf he would have enjoyed the surroundings. He spun around, his breath catching in his throat as he heard the trampling of snow.

"Come out!" he yelled, wand out. "I'm not scared of you!"

He fired a hex as the wolf limped from behind a tree. It yelped and collapsed, struggling to get back up.

"Leave me alone." Harry growled, stepping closer to the white animal. It almost blended with the crisp snow beneath it. He aimed his wand between its lingering eyes, needing to make something feel as much pain as he was in. A whimper from the creature stopped him. It wrenched at his heart.

He had never been cruel, and he would not start. Not even now he had truly lost everything.

"Just leave me alone." He frowned and turned on his heel, wanting to sleep everything away. Wanting to dream of Draco and nothing else.

An almighty howl escaped the wolf's throat. The Gryffindor turned to see the fur retracting, replaced by skin. The howl continued.

"Harry-"The wolf croaked, its snout twisting until Draco's face stared up at him. "Harry help me!" he rasped, his whole body now transformed to its original state.

"No." The boy muttered. "This isn't real. I have to get back."

"Harry! It's me, I promise." He dragged himself towards the Gryffindor. "Help me!"

The hero complex kicked in and the green eyed man carried what he suspected was a trap or a trick of the mind into the entrance of Malfoy Manor.

"Blaise!" he called, "Hermione! Come here! Quick!"

The two rushed to Harry's side. Blaise dropped to his knees and inspected the body on the floor.

"Dray..."he breathed, tears coating his cheeks which had pulled into a small smile, "Dray, how? How did you do it?"

"Blaise?" Silver misty eyes found Blaises. "Where's Harry? I can't – I need...I'm nearly gone."

"No you're not" the dark haired Slytherin choked, "You can't Draco. We need to do everything together."

The sickening feeling hit Harry like a train, this was real – Draco was here. But he needed help and fast.

He scrambled upstairs to Hedwig and released her with an Owl to St Mungo's before practically throwing himself back to Draco. He felt alive once more.

"Get him to his bed. I need a good reviving potion and chocolate." Harry shouted, rushing to get Draco upstairs.

The occupants of the house waiting until Draco was settled and asleep with a Medi Wizard by his side before they sat together by the fire, in the study that Blaise and Harry had talked in.

"Is he going to be okay?" Theodore finally cut into the silence, biting the skin around his nails as he looked from one friend to another.

"We won't know until he's been checked over, but I'd say it's a good sign that he's even alive." Hermione replied.

Blaise nodded and rubbed his tired eyes, "I don't understand how, but I'm so glad. I don't think I could have gone through life without him," he glanced furtively at Harry, "I really don't know how you even coped for one night. It's a good job you found him."

Harry gave him a small smile and looked away. His stomach was churning and he could hardly stop himself from running to Draco's room every few minutes, to check on him. He was grateful when the door creaked open, prohibiting any further awkward small talk.

"Potter." Snape glided into the room and pointed for Harry to follow him back out.

The corridor was dark and Harry had not realised how late it was getting. He yawned and sent a questioning look to Snape.

"What is the meaning of this?" He growled, pulling his black robes tight around himself, "Most of the living area is destroyed and Draco fighting for his life upstairs!"

"The Malvthorn twins were here. They tried to kill him. Called him a traitor to Voldemort." Harry choked on his own words, not wanting to think about how Draco had been hurled across the room and cursed.

"And where are they now?" Snape asked through his gritted teeth.

"Gone. The dragon got rid of them, I think, we left before we could see what happened." The Gryffindor looked down at his feet.

"At least you had the common sense to do that; all of you could have been killed," his matter-of-fact drawl made Harry angry, "As it happens, Draco is awake. He is asking for you."

Harry's heart leaped, the hope that had almost died burned within him and he set off jogging towards Draco's bedroom.

"Do not do anything to harm him, Potter. He has had enough people let him down in his lifetime." Snape's retreating figure pointedly stated.

Harry knew he was talking about their relationship, but how had he known? The boy who lived did not care at this point in time. The only thing he could think about was Draco.

***

"Harry!" Draco croaked, his hand outstretched for the boy to take.

"Hey," the boy replied softly, "I-I don't know where to start. I thought I'd lost you Draco."

"You haven't" Silver eyes shone bright with tears, fixed on Harry.

"I'm so glad, I don't think I could have gone on living! I can't be without you now."

Draco shifted in bed so Harry could lie down next to him.

"I'm amazed you're alive Draco," Harry smiled through his tears and grasped his lover's hand tighter, "but I don't understand. How? How are you here?"

"You, that's how, Harry." Draco wiped Harry's eyes with his thumb and kissed the hand that he held.

"I don't understand..."

"The reason you survived the killing curse was your Mother's love for you, well, the reason I survived was your love for me." He smiled and shrugged, "I think, when we made love, it made a barrier around us both, our love saved me Harry." He turned his head and pointed to his hair, a black streak ran down the back of it, "the curse hit me here but didn't reach any further than my hair."

Harry was overwhelmed, hot tears ran hard and fast, he blinked them away and gazed into Draco's grey gaze. He didn't quite understand how he had survived, but he didn't care, there was one thing he knew for sure.

"I love you so much, Draco."

"I know you do, Harry. That's why I'm here now." He kissed Harry's scar, "because you love me. And I love you in return."

***

_A/N: Okay, that took a while to write! :) This is the penultimate chapter! I hope y'all don't hate me for having Draco 'killed'. The fluff in the next chapter should hopefully make up for it. Please review!_

_I'm tussling between two ideas for my next long fic, but I will start it as soon as this is finished._

_In the mean time there should be a couple of one-shots on the way. _

_Again, PLEASE REVIEW (shameless begging.) _


	21. Chapter 20: The Ending

_A/N: Hello Guys! I would just like to say before I start this, that I love you all. This fic has been a huge emotional journey for me as a writer, and I'm just so sad it's ending, but so happy that I got to finish it. This fanfiction currently has 71 reviews and I can't even remember how many people have it on their alert list and their favourites. All I need to say is a huge thank you to anybody who has reviewed, read or added this to any sort of list. I'm so grateful for any feedback readers give me. I'd love to list you all here and reply to your reviews individually but it would be longer than the chapter, this A/N is turning into a bit of a novel as it is. I really hope you've all enjoyed this journey with Draco and Harry as much as I've enjoyed writing it. A few loose ends will be tied up now, and hopefully I can make 'Love to Hate You' go out with the bang it deserves. I'd really appreciate it if everybody took the time to review this chapter with any comments on the fic as a whole. I'd also love it if people would look out for the one-shot that should be coming after this fic (as a follow on to something that occurs in this chapter). And to anybody who will read the next long fic I will be writing [torn between two at the moment.]Again, thank you for your support – I couldn't wish for better readers. Much much love, enjoy the ending! X _

Harry rushed around the house, cleaning up and spelling everything into place. He had been struck with such a wonderful idea he could barely contain his excitement. He delegated work to all the members of the house hold and they began their day under Harry's dictation at precisely 5am that morning. Even the house elves were scared to linger any place for too long, not even daring to take a five minute break.

Before too long the Manor was gleaming and decorated from floor to ceiling. The damage done by what was now referred to as 'the incident' was so far behind the friends, it was as if it had never happened. A grand tree graced their room with its presence, glittering in all its glory. Harry had decided the Hogwarts students had not exactly had a Christmas, and so he had called a late one – so they could open their presents and eat dinner and do just what they would have done on the real Christmas day. It was mainly for Draco – Harry had realised he had never given the boy his present, and also that the boy had wanted Christmas to be so perfect for Harry.

Well, Harry would make it perfect for his Draco. The blond had been sent to a nearby village in search for the muggle item 'beetroot' it was the first thing that came into Harry's head, and he knew Draco would know nothing of it. He had been vague in his description in the hopes his lover would be gone all day. And he had been. The other occupants of the house had enough time to put the feast on the table and get changed the awful Christmas jumpers Blaise had ordered them as a joke – a joke which reminded Harry far too much of Mrs Weasley's yearly present. They huddled in the living room excitedly as they saw Draco's enchanted car screech up the drive way. Harry's heart leapt as he saw the familiar blond head duck out of the door.

He entered the room rosy-cheeked and looking moody until they jumped to him, chiming 'Merry Christmas' simultaneously.

"You all conspired against me..." he muttered breathlessly.

"Yep!" Blaise grinned.

"So I could have a Christmas after all?" He undid his scarf and coat and raise an eyebrow.

"That was the desired effect, yes." Harry bit his lip nervously.

Draco's cheeks became a shade deeper, his eyes found Harry's and he chuckled softly.

"I love you, Harry James Potter" he jumped onto his lover, wrapping his legs around Harry and letting his hands find the tousled hair he found so adorable. He kissed the Gryffindor with the ferocity of the snow storm adorning the sky outside, not wanting the moment to end.

"Yeah, okay we get it Dray. Now let's open some presents." Blaise interjected with a small laugh, shaking his head at the pair.

Draco laughed into his kiss and slid down from Harry's waist, taking the boy by the hand and sitting down to watch everybody open their presents.

The few weeks they had spent together had impacted the friends, they knew each other well. Harry received Quidditch accessories from Blaise and Hermione and new gloves from Theodore and Amelia. He watched in delight as they opened their gifts from him, Hermione fondled the rare book excitedly – unable to resists opening it and reading a few paragraphs. Her eyes lit up as she opened Blaise's gift.

"Plane tickets, to Italy?" She looked at him, puzzled.

"Yeah, I thought you might like to see where I'm from," he chuckled, "I also thought you might like to do it the fully muggle way, since you don't like Dray's cars."

Draco laughed as Hermione shook her head and hugged Blaise hard.

The two kissed briefly before turning to watch Draco and Harry exchange gifts.

Harry had wrapped the cauldron awkwardly, but as soon as it was opened it shone and lit up the room – its crystal pattern sending pretty flecks of silver across the room.

"Wow." Draco looked breathlessly at his present. The cauldron meowed softly and he looked confused at it before peering inside. His face radically changed to an expression of pure happiness as he pulled out a tiny black kitten from within the cauldron. "Harry," he breathed, "how did you know?"

"Blaise told me." Harry laughed at the animal trying to paw at Draco's hair.

"I would kill you, Blaise. But I'm just too distracted." He held the creature close and scratched it behind the ears.

"What will you call him?" Hermione quizzed.

Draco thought hard and long before coming to his answer, he paused, looked at Harry and smiled.

"Sirius."

The Gryffindor boy grinned at his lover, who sat down next to him, with the newly named kitten pawing at his jumper.

"I hope you don't think this is cheap, I had no idea what to get you – I wanted something I knew you'd like. This is all I could think of, I saw a few other things, but I thought this might be a bit more personal." He pulled a small black box from his pocket and handed it to Harry with a nervous smile.

Within the box was the same necklace Harry had complimented Draco on the night of the Christmas Ball, the sleeping serpent with a diamond encrusted spine. Only now it was different, a silver loop wound around the snake and from the top of this circle to the bottom, striking through the tail – was a lightning bolt. It was the most elegant piece of jewellery Harry could have asked for. He looked at Draco and beamed, "it's perfect. I could never say this is cheap."

"I'm glad you think so, Harry." Draco took his hand, "I just wanted something to symbolise us – me and you, together. As one." He leaned in and nuzzled Harry's ear, "turn it over."

On the other side of the pendant, the words 'the snake withholds the tongue that opens' were engraved around the edge. Harry read them, confused.

"My room at Hogwarts," Draco whispered to him, "the password to the door is 'open' in parseltongue."

Harry grinned at him, "I bet not many people could break in."

"Just me and you, this way we can be alone whenever we like." Draco replied in parseltongue.

"Good." Harry replied in the same way, kissing the boy, "I want as much time alone with you as possible."

"Oh come on you two! That's not fair!" Blaise interrupted their private conversation.

"Sorry Blaise" Draco apologised before fastening his chain around Harry's neck – admiring it as he did so.

The friends made their way to dinner, tucking in to their turkey meal and Christmas pudding until they were too full to eat one more bite. The copious amount of food left over, was of course put to good use by Blaise – throwing a sprout at Draco. Who in return threw potatoes which hit Theodore. The occupants began to hurl food all around the dining area until it looked like the table had exploded.

"This isn't fair! My poor house elves have to clean this!" Draco shouted, his hands outstretched in surrender as Harry hit him in the face with a handful of carrots. "Potter!"

"Okay, Malfoy – let's take this outside" Blaise opened one set of French doors and chucked a snow ball at Draco's head.

"Right! Get here you Italian prat!"

Snow fell heavy and the sky darkened as the Hogwarts pupils played into the evening, enjoying teasing each other and building snowmen in ridiculous positions. Soaked and freezing they let their numb limbs carry them by the fire and all promptly collapsed.

"Best. Day. Ever." Blaise panted, grinning at the other people in the room.

"Most definitely," Draco agreed, rubbing his frozen nose warm and pulling a blanket around himself and Harry.

Returning to Hogwarts was not something anybody wanted to do, so travelling to London to catch the train with their peers was a depressing journey for all leaving the Malfoy Manor.

"This was a brilliant Christmas, I didn't want to leave." Harry sighed, sitting across from Draco on the train.

"Well, since you don't particularly love your guardians and I don't enjoy living alone – why don't we just collect your things at the start of summer and you can spend it with me?" Draco's eyes fixed on Harry, a small hopeful smile playing at his lips.

"Are you being serious?" The boy replied.

"I never joke about living arrangements, Potter." The blond smirked.

"Good because I was moving in whether you were or weren't."

"I'm glad you feel that way." Draco teased.

"You two should really pretend to hate each other again if you don't want people to know about your relationship" Hermione interjected.

"Why?" Harry asked

"Because it will be easier than pretending to just be friends! You two will never do that without wanting to be all over each other."

"She has a point." Draco sighed, "I guess I need to go back to being the Malfoy you hate."

"I'll know the truth" Harry shot a small smile at his lover.

"Oh Wow!" Hermione laughed, re-reading a line of the book she had been given by Harry.

"What?" Blaise peered over her shoulder, she pointed to the page. "Merlin's beard!" he exclaimed, "that is freaky!"

"What?" Draco snapped.

Hermione read the passage, "Throughout the years that the founders lived within the castle walls, there were various rumours concerning the relationship of Godric Gryffindor and Salazar Slytherin. The two spent time together in private so often they were thought of as lovers. The only piece of evidence to support this was a ruined page of Gryffindor's diary with a poem describing the appearance of Slytherin and tender feelings towards him" she looked at Draco and Harry, "you two are nothing new, you're just following history."

Draco looked ready to explode. He looked at Harry for support.

"Me and Draco are nothing like that!" he protested.

"Oh let's see, the two most powerful boys from Slytherin and Gryffindor fall in love – hmm, the castle must just have a way with these things." Blaise teased.

"It can't just be because of the history of the castle, I was meant to be in Slytherin in the first place!" Harry was worried about how Draco was looking, his anger creeping into his storm coloured eyes.

"You'd make a terrible Slytherin, you know tha-"

"Maybe this is _why _you were put in Gryffindor!" Hermione interjected, "Don't you both see! You were both put here for a reason, to find each other. I think you're soul mates."

Blaise snorted at this. "Soul mates?"

"Not the kind you know about!" She sounded exasperated as she closed her book, "In the Wizarding world, soul mates are people who can combine their powers. They have attributes of each other and can see into each other's minds when they need to. This book says that Gryffindor and Slytherin would speak in Parseltongue." She looked back at Harry and Draco.

"Well, what exactly does it mean to have a soul mate?" harry had to admit, it did sound like him and Draco. When Draco was a wolf he entered Harry's mind until the boy went and found him. Something had drawn him to that clearing where he first found Draco, too.

"It means if you stay apart for too long, you die." Draco sounded scared. He looked down.

"That's why you've just invited me to come live with you." Everything fell into place for Harry.

"That's why I did everything I've ever done." Draco looked down at his knee.

"Excuse me?" Harry watched him.

"I could never leave you alone, I wanted to be your friend in first year and even when you rejected me I would torment you and practically follow you everywhere." Draco muttered, not sure what to think.

"Salazar and Godric died soon after they left Hogwarts." Hermione added, "You two never hated each other, you needed each other!"

"That is," Draco stuttered.

"Incredible." Harry finished for him, looking at the boy across from him. He felt it, there and then, something that blocked out anything else from the world. Something that was more powerful than magic and wizards and witches, his tie to Draco. A tie that had been there his whole life and only now did he realise it.

"That's why I didn't die. When I said it was your love, I didn't really know what I was saying. But it was your love. Soul mates cannot die without each other." He gulped and looked at Harry. "And why I ended up in that clearing – that was where I went to think about you. To think about joining you. During the war. It was a place that connected us."

"But why turn into a wolf?" Harry wondered.

"It's my animagus. My stronger form."

"I see." Harry breathed out hard, not knowing what was right or wrong anymore.

"I think it's going to be hard to pretend to hate each other." The blond smiled at him.

"It's going to be more than hard" Harry chuckled.

Pretending to hate Draco was, in fact, a lot harder than even Harry could imagine. They had tried to find somewhere private near each lesson in order to talk and kiss and be together, but there was nowhere private in Hogwarts. They had landed in detention too many times after having to pretend to be fighting when walked in on.

Tension cut between them, their lack of contact was wearing thin on both of them. They argued and bickered and both ended up in tears every time. Feeling exhausted from the stress of it all, harry was glad when the distraction of the Quidditch season came; especially when he could take it out on a match against Slytherin. No matter who he dated he would always be furiously competitive with the house team.

He did his usual pep talk before leading the team onto the pitch, showing off his new broom. The red quarter of the stands roared with cheers of excitements whilst the green and silver side hissed. Harry ignored it; there was only one Slytherin he truly cared about. That particular Slytherin was heading towards him now, striding across the pitch in his emerald robes which Harry had to admit looked very good on him.

"Nice broom Potter. Didn't want a gold and red one then? Never thought you were that honourable anyway" Draco leant on his very own Arcus Storm, the silver stick and green tail matching his half of the pitch.

"I don't feel the need to rub my house in everybody else's face to be honest, Malfoy. Anyway this brings out the colour of my eyes." He prepared himself to kick off from the ground and soared vertically as soon as the whistle was blow, circling the grounds once to get a feel for the weather conditions.

He kept a look out for the Snitch as he whizzed around in circles, grinning at Blaise as he passed the Slytherin Chaser.

"Harry!" Katie Bell screamed, "Watch out!"

He turned his broom to see Draco hurtling towards him, the boy stopped dead in front of him and grinned mischievously at him.

"What do you want Malfoy?" he grinned back, unable to help himself.

"You, Potter."

Before Harry knew what was happening, Malfoy was straddling both their brooms and wrapping his arms around the other seekers. The blond kissed him slowly and tenderly with purpose, the crowd went silent and for a few moments Harry and Draco seemed to be alone in the air.

The dark haired boy pulled away, "What are you doing?" he hissed.

"I'm sick of avoiding you, it's hurting and it's really distracting. And I don't want to live a lie like I used to. I want people to know that I'm yours, and you're mine. You're my soul mate, and I love you. Why should we be ashamed to show people how happy we are, Harry?" Draco exhaled and looked deep into the emerald eyes he loved so dearly to lose himself in.

Regardless of how many looks he would get when he walked into the great hall later, ignoring the remarks Professor Snape would make constantly in potions, and oblivious to the way he would be treated at Hogwarts from this day on – Harry Potter kissed Draco Malfoy back, so softly and sweetly he felt his heart plummet deeper in love than it already was. Their tenderness hung in the air for long after the match had ended. The atmosphere around the castle changed, as if Gryffindor and Slytherin themselves were walking the halls once more. The houses became more united than ever and even though both Harry and Draco had no family left – they had one at Hogwarts. They lived out history within the walls openly, instead of keeping it a secret they did as Draco had said – they shared their love and that love lit up the halls of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, even after the boys had graduated.

_A/N: Oh god I'm actually crying :/ I feel so sad! This has been my brain child for so long and now it's over. Again, thank you so much for everybody who has read this story. I hope you enjoyed it down to the very last kiss! I'm so proud to have finished this! Please please please PLEASE review this chapter! For the love of Drarry it will drive me crazy if people don't tell me how they found the ending! Oh and please look out for fan art which will be coming very soon! If there is a particular part of the book you want illustrating, please let me know! Thank you all! So so much! For the link to my Fanart please see my profile :D _

_~ VIKEMON xxxxxx. _


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